Pothole halts car and leaves driver in a spin

Malcolm Pace’s car may have been halted by a gigantic pothole on Għargħur Road earlier this month – but he has been going around in circles ever since, as he tries in vain to discover which council is responsible for maintaining the stretch of road where the damage occurred.

The local councils all blame each other and I am left going around in circles

Five local councils – Iklin, Birkirkara, Naxxar, San Ġwann and Għargħur – have either denied responsibility for the stretch of road or failed to respond to Mr Pace’s attempts to contact them since the incident occurred during heavy rainfall on February 7.

He is attempting to claim €254 plus VAT for the replacement tyre he purchased after his Mini Cooper S hit the notorious submerged pothole and one of his six-month-old tyres was damaged beyond repair.

Mr Pace contacted Iklin and San Ġwann councils on the day of the incident, but said neither was willing to accept responsibility for maintaining the road.

He then went to file a report for insurance purposes at San Ġwann police station, where the officer on duty agreed to fill out the report but said the road is the responsibility of Naxxar.

The incident report from San Ġwann police station lists the ‘incident address’ as Triq Għargħur, Naxxar.

With police report and photographic evidence in hand, the determined Mr Pace sent e-mails to Iklin, Birkirkara, Naxxar and San Ġwann councils plus Transport Malta with details of the incident and his claim for damages.

Naxxar and San Ġwann have so far failed to reply, while Birkirkara pointed the finger at San Ġwann.

Iklin denied responsibility and Transport Malta threw a new name into the hat – or the hole – by saying the road falls under the remit of Għargħur council. Alas, Għargħur has twice denied responsibility for this road and when contacted by The Sunday Times on Friday, the council produced an extract of the site map it says proves this stretch of road does not fall within the boundaries of its locality.

Yesterday morning, a Transport Malta spokesman would only confirm that this road “falls under the competence of a local council”, adding that Transport Malta is not responsible for determining the boundaries of localities laid out in the Local Councils Act.

Transport Malta is responsible for maintaining arterial and distributor roads, but it is up to councils to maintain all other roads in their locality, unless privately owned.

The offending pothole has been there for some time, and after the last heavy rainfall amateur efforts appear to have been made by local residents or conscientious drivers to fill it with gravel, which was washed away.

Yesterday, it seems official responsibility was finally assumed by someone, as workmen could be seen filling in the pothole. Mr Pace hopes this is a prelude to one of the councils taking responsibility for the damage to his car, but anger remains.

“The whole experience is very stressful and feels like a waste of time. They all blame each other and I am left going around in circles”.

pcooke@timesofmalta.com