Roadworks nightmare in Gozo

I am putting pen to paper on Saturday afternoon. It is around 2 p.m. and I have just returned from the “war zone” that is Republic Street in Victoria these days. Honestly I cannot think of a better description for what this main thoroughfare in Gozo has become due to the ongoing roadworks that have finally “come to town”.

...is it far simpler to keep everybody in the dark so that nobody can complain about work that is well behind schedule?- Franco Mercieca

I will not, for one moment, question the necessity of the roadworks themselves or the extent of the works needed on both Republic Street and Mġarr Road but, as any other Gozitan, the works themselves feature as a big shadow on any of my days in Gozo.

The works, that have now taken up almost a year on Mġarr Road, and their extension into central Victoria over the last few months have, of necessity, become part of the every day life of every Gozitan and have not only played havoc with timetables on every individual’s daily routine but have become a serious concern for businesses that line the route of the works themselves.

“A necessary evil” one may comment: given the necessity of the works themselves. Yes, certainly, but I do question the time frames involved with the advancement of the works in question.

I am sure that nobody can contest the fact that the works have caused problems with most people’s daily lives but of graver concern is that every business along the route of the works is privately reporting a serious drop in trade over last year’s figures for the same period. And this is understandable when one realises that many businesses have their front entrances badly encumbered if not partially blocked, making prospective patrons opt for alternative locations whenever possible.

Given these uncontestable fact, should not the authorities have planned a more concentrated time period of construction and possibly, in central Victoria, considered the possibility of a 24-hour-a-day and seven-days-a-week activity? I know that this would have raised costs considerably but the disruption of so many people’s lives and livelihood should merit at least the consideration! At the very least, I don’t think the situation warrants that at 1.30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon everybody has walked off the job as if it were no bother for anyone should a few more days be added to the completion date.

And, talking of completion dates, does anybody really know when that should be? Does anybody really know what time frame we are looking at? I have spoken to several business owners who are set up along that route and nobody seems to have the faintest idea of when their lives might return to some sort of normality. Would it not be the decent thing to do to advise these people on the time frames envisaged or is it far simpler to keep everybody in the dark so that nobody can complain about work that is well behind schedule?

The roadworks’ ordeal for us Gozitans does not only end in Gozo but gets even more complex whenever we – for some of us on a daily basis – venture to Malta. Most of us by now have got used to driving through Marfa and past Popeye’s village every morning and lately finding our way through the village core of Mellieħa before getting to Mistra valley: not forgetting the rollercoaster on the way back to Ċirkewwa, unless one is unlucky enough to get stuck behind a truck labouring its way up the hilly road and watching the ferry loosening its ropes and leaving berth.

As the roads to and from Ċirkewwa are both single lanes and the only access roads at the moment, would it have been that difficult to have an occassional stretch of hard shoulder to cater for any emergencies? A simple bumper to bumper accident would lead to a total chaos. Has anybody thought of how an ambulance could get there?

A question begs to be answered. As the financing of these roads is being mainly tapped from the structural funds allocated to our shores for the period between 2008 and 2013 (under the Ten T programme) why do we have to cram all these roadworks into the last couple of years rather than space them out over the five-year period? Or is it more important to make sure that the inauguration of such necessary infrastructural investments coincides with the next pre-election period?

Extensive works are sometimes necessary in any community but it seems that in keeping with this objective, the authorities concerned have completely ignored the human element: the well-being of the citizens affected.

Mr Mercieca is an ophthalmic surgeon and prospective Labour Party candidate.