Ministry clamps down on shoddy trenching works

Roads Minister Austin Gatt has directed Enemalta and the Water Services Corporation not to carry out any road trenching works without the prior approval of the Network Infrastructure Department.

With effect from January 1, all trenching works and subsequent road reinstatement required by the two corporations have to be contracted out by the Network Infrastructure Division on behalf and at the cost of the corporation concerned.

The minister in a letter to the chairmen of the two corporations said a new national policy is currently being prepared to regulate all type of interventions on the road network.

A Quality Assurance Unit has been set up within the Network Infrastructure Department of the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) to ensure that road interventions are carried out safely, efficiently and to high quality standards, while causing the least disturbance possible.

The unit will also foster better coordination, cooperation and communication between the ADT and the utility providers and ensure cost effectiveness and minimisation of future interventions.

The minister said his ministry wants to ensure consistency and attention to quality standards when trenching workers are undertaken.

“Unfortunately, this is not the case all the time, especially where resurfacing works are undertaken by corporations, and certain contractors are consistently delivering low quality work and are also rarely supervised to ensure that they deliver good quality work,” the minister complained.