Luqa, Żurrieq await new roads two years on

Roads in Luqa and Żurrieq, which the government promised would be finished by 2008, had still not materialised, the local councils complained.

The mayors of both localities appealed to the government to stop dragging its feet on four roads in Luqa and 24 in Żurrieq, which should have been completed two years ago according to a timetable given in the 2007 Budget. It was promised that works on residential roads, started in 2006, would be completed by the end of 2008.

About 230 residents lived in the Luqa streets in question and 180 in those at Żurrieq, the mayors said, stressing that they were all paying road contributions and should, therefore, not have to withstand the degrading conditions they had to face.

The roads were in a very bad state, said Luqa mayor John Schembri, and needed to be fixed as soon as possible, especially because winter was round the corner.

Żurrieq mayor Silvio Izzo Savona said that out of 35 roads the government promised to build, only 11 materialised and the rest remained on paper, causing major inconvenience to the families, who had to live in dust and mud.

The local councils were applying pressure for the roads to be built, while ensuring that those that fell under their responsibility were completed in the shortest time possible.

Labour’s spokesman for local councils, MP Stefan Buontempo, expressed doubts on whether the 475 roads the government flagged would be completed within a year, adding that they would only be resurfaced and the underlying ­services forgotten.