If defaulting government contractors are costing the country millions of euros, as Transport Minister Joe Mizzi has said, then the situation does not seem to have changed much since he took over the ministry in 2013. Maybe the problem was worse then but why should the taxpayer still be burdened with so much extra cost when the government has been fully aware of what was happening?

The Cabinet evidently failed to intervene directly in the matter even though government ministers must have surely been also aware of the kind of difficulties Mr Mizzi was having with contractors. That can either be incompetence or inertia, which equally leads to public money going to waste. All this is indeed most surprising from a government that, before the election, had made so much of the fact that it had a road map to tackle the country’s problems.

Four years down the line, many of the problems are still there, some getting even worse than they were when Labour took over. Mr Mizzi said that, when he was first appointed minister, it was the order of the day for contractors not to meet their deadlines or other requirements. Some also used to come up with work variations.

Maybe the problem is not as big as it used to be but, judging by the minister’s outburst, it has certainly not been solved either, so much so that he declared he has had enough now, meaning the situation could not go on as it is today.

Delays in the completion of works were not only costing the country millions of euros but were also a major contributor to traffic congestion. Traffic management is another area where the minister has fallen far short of expectations, to put it mildly.

Why is the minister taking so long to get to grips with the problem of defaulting contractors? Those who, in the wake of the scandals that have plagued this administration, have become far too skeptical about all that the government does, may be tempted to argue that the answer may lie in the fact that contractors make up a strong lobby and that the government may find it unwise to ruffle their feathers, more so now that the election is only a year away.

It is either that or the government does not have enough willpower to tackle the problem. If it had, it would not have taken it this long to start considering raising fines for not meeting deadlines or for work that is not up to standard.

The minister was exhibiting his weakness in an almost humiliating manner when he was reported saying: “I’m saying it’s time for the experts to come up with real deterrents for these non-compliant contractors. There is a roster of contractors who get government contracts for roadworks and so on; if they don’t meet their contractual obligations, then maybe we could skip them the next time.” Why maybe?

Why is it necessary to call in the experts for the government to impose the deterrents required to make contractors follow the requirements laid down in contracts?

If, as the minister said last month, contractors were taking on far more work than they can handle, should not the contracting agency make sure that those winning bidders are able to do the work they tendered for?

The stark fact is that the minister has been unable to tackle the problem root and branch in the time he has been at the helm of his ministry.

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