It is pointless talking about ‘excellence’ in various sectors of the economy, or discussing the establishment of six-star hotels and attracting high net worth individuals when the roads we have are in the dire state they are.

The criteria for roadwork priorities have for some years now become whether the road forms part of the Trans-European Road Network in Europe or whether the road is in need of a bus lane. This situation has resulted in many inner roads being of a very poor standard.

I have already written an article in which I spelt out the anomaly of the National Structure Plan omitting all roads in Sliema from the arterial and distributor road network, while Cospicua and Attard together have 15 roads in all forming part of this network.

This time I wish to raise the issue as to which part of road maintenance falls under the responsibility of the local council as opposed to that which falls under the remit of the central government and the authority responsible for road transport, Transport Malta.

The recent directives issued by the Governance Board for Local Councils to guide councils whenever claims for damages are made by motorists has unfortunately reinforced the misconception that all road maintenance falls under the responsibility of local councils.

The Local Councils Act states clearly that it is the function of local councils to provide for the upkeep and maintenance of any street, provided that maintenance in relation to any street or footpath includes the patching or resurfacing thereof, but does not include its reconstruction. Whenever we drive through a road and our car jolts violently for the whole stretch of the road it is quite obvious that the road needs to be reconstructed.

Where there are roads which have caved in it is a waste of money to do resurfacing or patching, what is needed is the reconstruction of such a road. It is the responsibility of central government to undertake such reconstruction of the foundations of a road.

I sometimes ask myself how it is possible that ministers passing through roads which have caved in, such as Reggie Miller Street in Gżira or Manuel Dimech Street in Sliema or the part where Msida Road joins the Gżira Strand, don’t raise the matter at their Cabinet meetings.

I sometimes ask myself how it is possible that ministers passing through roads which have caved in don’t raise the matter at Cabinet meetings

The Sliema council has in the past six months, on three occasions, officially written to the central government on the urgent nature of the reconstruction of Manuel Dimech Street, as I am sure other councils have done for their roads needing reconstruction.

In our case, on two occasions we were ignored, while on the third occasion, in reply to the question whether this highly frequented road may be included in the current road works programme, we got a terse reply from the CEO/chairman of Transport Malta with the word “acknowledged”.

Frankly being ignored is a more decent way of handling such requests than a dry non-reply with the word ‘acknowledged’.

The resurfacing of St Agatha and Sacro Cuor streets, which are minor inner streets, done last year, cost the Sliema council €223,000, when our allocation was €950,000, so almost one-quarter of our budget went to finance the resurfacing of two minor streets. This example, which is the experience of all councils, illustrates the costs involved and the funding available.

If the central government doesn’t produce a plan of works the situation is going to reach breaking point as resurfacing works are unaffordable, so more and more roads are not going to have regular maintenance and will inevitably end up needing to be rebuilt.

If national finances for road works are that limited can’t the Ministry of Finance consider ring-fencing fees and taxes paid by the construction industry and channel such revenue to funds for the reconstruction of roads by Transport Malta and the resurfacing of roads by councils?

After all, heavy vehicle traffic is one of the reasons roads in heavily urbanised areas are deteriorating so rapidly.

It is high time that the criteria for road reconstruction is no longer whether the work qualifies for EU funding, but rather the criteria needs to urgently shift to whether the reconstruction of the road in question is an absolute necessity, if we really aim to be deserving of the term ‘excellence’ to describe our living standards.

Paul Radmilli is a Sliema local councillor.