The threadbare excuse of 'only in Malta'

I have just returned from three very enjoyable weeks in Malta including some great weather. I noticed that The Strand had been dug up for resurfacing. My friends told me that it had been "thrown down" just a few months earlier, during the Christmas shopping period, causing inconvenience, and was already breaking up.

It is good to see that attempts are being made to repair some main roads from their crumbling state, however despite the purchase of some professional road mending equipment, contractors don't seem to employ skilled operatives or use good quality materials. The end result is shoddy, to put it as politely as possible.

Some of the repaired patches on the bus route to the ferry terminal could challenge a rollercoaster ride at a funfair!

I have sat on buses waiting to go past these works as wardens stood idly by doing little, if anything, to speed the traffic, watching seemingly unskilled workers making a pig's ear of the job. It must be somebody's responsibility but no one, except the affected residents and shopkeepers, seem to care.

The road provided when Her Majesty visited Malta a few years ago still seems in excellent condition.

Why is it that this standard cannot be maintained? Why can't the missing skills or quality control be taught or bought? It's such a waste to patch and repair in this way.

Surely the Maltese are fed up with saying "Only in Malta"; I'm certainly fed up with it being used as an excuse.

The authorities must look to what will happen when the EU cash runs out, as it will surely do soon as other countries join and have greater needs than Malta.