Several councils have complained they are struggling to maintain roads under their responsibility due to lack of funds, as the rains continue to drill potholes, causing havoc for drivers and vehicles.

More funds need to be allocated for Mosta. The council has to cater for nine zones

Roadworks have been completed on 277 residential roads since a €15 million roads strategy was introduced by the government in January 2010.

While arterial and distributor roads are Transport Malta’s responsibility, it is up to councils to maintain and improve all other roads in their locality, unless privately owned.

Under the tenure of incoming Justice Minister Chris Said, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Local Councils had introduced a two-pronged strategy in January 2010 to tackle the problems of poor residential roads following feedback in the consultation process of the local councils’ reform.

Part of the annual financial allocation to councils was ring-fenced so it could not be used for anything other than roadworks and the upkeep of residential roads, and a public-private partnership scheme for residential roads was made available for councils.

Under this scheme, local councils were asked to list residential roads they thought were in need of rebuilding and the Department for Local Government allocated special funds for councils to rebuild these roads.

Councils are responsible for the whole process from tendering to ensuring completion, while the Department for Local Government supervises the process.

Certain localities seem to have benefited from the public-private scheme: Swieqi has completed all of the 23 rebuilds, while Birkirkara has completed seven out of 10, Imqabba 24 out of 29, and Kirkop nine of 11.

But while some councils expressed satisfaction with the strategy, others told The Sunday Times they are still struggling to cope.

Mosta council complained its annual ring-fenced budget in 2011 for the upkeep, maintenance and improvements of roads under its remit was just €35,000.

“This is not sufficient and more funds need to be allocated for this vast town. Besides the central areas with their boundaries, the Mosta council has to cater for nine zones... we have informed the Department for Local Government about the problem and asked for more funds,” a council spokesman said.

Ġzira council, which is responsible for the lower part of the terrible Testaferrata Street, said it had €70,000 ring-fenced for roads last year, but could not say how much of this it had spent because “this is still being calculated”. However, “it goes without saying that the more funds available, the better the council can administer its roads”.

St Paul’s Bay council – a constant target of criticism for poor roads – has begun to tap into funds from the public-private partnership scheme. So far just five out of 30 roads identified for rebuilding under the scheme have been completed. Mayor Graziella Galea said Gulju Street – a frequent target of criticism from readers due to potholes – “has suffered damage a number of times due to the heavy traffic flow, especially since this has now become a main bus route”. Consequently, simple resurfacing works would not be enough.

Even when funding was available, the council sometimes had to undergo long discussions with different entities or corporations before road works could begin, Ms Galea added, citing St George’s Street.