Replacing the broken and disintegrating paving stone in parts of Valletta’s Melita Street with stronger lava stone slabs will cost around €100,000, according to Transport Malta.

The paving, which formed part of an embellishment project around a year ago, had to be replaced after the transport authority received complaints and noted the “failures”.

The slabs were cracked, broken and in certain parts sunk into the road. The grey slabs, paved as part of a major project in Valletta, are also heavily stained with oil.

When contacted, a spokesman for the transport authority said the earliest start date was the first half of July.

The bill would be footed by Transport Malta since the faults have been “linked to the current demands on the road being above the performance of the specified material”. One major cause of the slabs collapse is the heavy flow of traffic through the road since vehicles mainly enter Valletta centre from St Mark’s Street.

The spokesman said no further replacements were currently planned for Valletta.

The authority had said that the “failure” of the paving had nothing to do with poor workmanship but the wrong choice of material for a heavily trafficked road.