Official figures showed a €49.7 million surplus in public finances. For the first time in recent history, the national debt has gone down mainly due to proceeds from the EU and, to a lesser extent, income tax, licences, taxes, fines and VAT.

Lower outlays were recorded to the tune of about €8 million, it was reported, mainly in the social, medical and energy areas, which were partly offset by increased outlays in schooling, public services and childcare…

As a resident observer, I wondered whether all necessary outlays to maintain the vital infrastructure and the public commodity provisions were really accounted for.

While I imagined the Prime Minister and his government were ‘looking good’ in Brussels, I was still pondering... how come some €50 million surplus after many news articles reporting an overall picture of overspending and increased costs of government employment and so on.

Then, two days later, Times of Malta published an editorial titled ‘Roads – a growing lunar landscape’. This article spelled out in great detail the dreadful state of Malta’s dangerous roads, which put the country to shame, with the exception of EU-funded regional roads.

Some of the roads are not even fit for off-roading, according to the author.

The article goes on to report that a traffic expert estimates the budget that is required to repair and build the roads to the proper standards would amount to some €50 million.

On reading such information, the penny dropped.