How they looked the day before. Photos: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Cleaning works have started on oil stains at the newly-inaugurated stairs at City Gate but engine fluid can still be seen on the nearby paving.

The steps leading to St John’s Cavalier were treated by workers from the government’s cleansing directorate yesterday afternoon after Times of Malta sent a set of photographs to the Infrastructure Ministry.

The photographs also showed the paving outside the new Parliament building looking tired, cracked and heavily stained with engine fluid.

The oil stains and tyre marks on the stone were still there yesterday afternoon. Three long black strips of tape, in the shape of an open box, were still on the paving outside the former opera house, now christened Pjazza Teatru Rjal.

The Infrastructure Ministry strongly condemned the “irresponsible act” and said workers were deployed on Tuesday afternoon and again yesterday morning to clean up.

When asked who was behind the mess, a spokesman said the ministry did not know “who is responsible for the damage especially for the stains on the steps”.

He added that, together with other entities, the ministry would take “the necessary measures to identify the best way forward regarding vehicle access in the area”.

Tyre marks and oil stains could also be seen in Pjazza de Valette together with cracked and broken slabs. The spokesman said three methods were used by the cleansing directorate: an acid-based washing process, floor-scrubbing equipment and a machine to remove dried chewing gum from the ground.

When asked whether the acid wash process was safe to use on the paving, the spokesman said that, “ideally”, it should not be used.

“Unfortunately, as the stone is very porous, the oil penetrated deeply and the only method to remove it is through this procedure.

“There is no other chemical as powerful as this acid.”

The cleansing directorate had tried several chemicals in the past “but to no avail as oil stains remain very visible,” the spokesman said.