Months before the new Parliament building is due to be opened, the paving near Valletta’s new entrance is already looking worn out, cracked, and heavily stained with oil splatters.

The newly opened sloping stairs, leading down from St James Cavalier and St John’s Cavalier, are in an even worse state with trails of black stains, presumably a leakage from a heavy vehicle, streaking down the centre.

The steps, reminiscent of the dramatic staircases flanking the city gate before Freedom Square was created, were opened two months ago and used as runways in Malta Fashion Week.

Part of the paving outside the former opera house, now known as Pjazza Teatru Rjal, has three long black strips of tape, in the shape of an open box, stuck on the ground.

In the stretch between the new City Gate entrance to the corner of South Street, the white paving stone has taken on a greyish tinge and is dotted with dried bits of chewing gum.

Sections of the square tiles are marred by tiny, deep scratches and blotched with mechanical fluid stains.

Tyre marks of heavy vehicles leading in and out of the construction barriers surrounding the new Parliament building can also be seen on the ground.

Not even Pjazza De Valette was spared from vehicles, which stained the tiles in black arching streaks, leaving a number of stones cracked and broken.

Questions sent to the Infrastructure Ministry yesterday remained unanswered.