The vehicular underpass from December 13 Road in Marsa to the Menqa area and to the cruise liner terminal was opened yesterday by Transport Minister Joe Mizzi.

Mr Mizzi said that in July, he had promised that the project would be given a boost to meet a deadline of completion by March.

“Let’s not forget that the previous government had said the project would be ready in 2012.” Mr Mizzi said the underpass was equipped to European standards, with an “impressive light system”.

A computerised system of LEDs controls the level of light according to the time of day.

During the past few months, he continued, a great deal of infrastructural work had been completed, including rain water systems, telecommunications services, electricity and drainage systems.

The government was also going to address the traffic problem which was increasingly becoming a headache for many people in a number of areas.

Also present at the press conference was Pat Cox, the former president of the European Parliament who has been newly appointed as the European Coordinator for the TEN-T Scandinavia-Mediterranean Corridor. This links the major urban centres in Scandinavia to the Mediterranean passing through Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Sicily and Malta.

The last section of the corridor connects Italy with Malta via ‘Motorways of the Sea’.

The ports of Marsaxlokk and Valletta, with the airport and the connecting road network in between, have been defined as Malta’s ‘core network’.

Bottlenecks in the core network are particularly problematic for Malta, as it passes through some of the most densely occupied areas of Malta, including the inner harbour regions. Mr Cox said that coming as he did from a small island member state (Ireland), he understood the importance of bringing Europe’s periphery to its centre.

He will be proposing the development of a forum of seven member states in respect of the corridor.

Malta is the first country he has visited since his appointment as coordinator. He plans to visit Helsinki in Finland next.

“We will ensure that when the call for proposals presents itself, Malta will be ready and able to draw significant co-funding of up to 85 per cent,” Mr Cox said.

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