I am writing this letter on behalf of the Friends of Cottonera Forum. It has been a year now since the Dock One regeneration project was launched. For residents it has been a year of dust storms throughout summer which, together with the dug-up main road, butchered trees and half-demolished walls, made the area look more of a war zone than anything that was being televised at the time from the Libyan uprising.

It has been a year of floods throughout the winter making the area look like one huge swamp. Half the original parking bays have been removed resulting in something resembling a dodgem rink of cars, bumper to bumper in whatever available space can be found.

Local businesses are suffering, residents are greatly inconvenienced by the dreadful mess, the Cospicua regatta club premises has suffered from flooding as well as damage to its boats from having to drag them across debris. The litany of damage, distress and disruption goes on and on.

April 2012, the month when the project was scheduled to be completed, is just around the corner. The completion date has now been postponed to September so residents can look forward to another summer of mayhem. And a September completion date is really pie-in-the-sky, wishful thinking considering the enormity of the remaining works and the fact that one would be lucky to see any more than six workers on site.

All this time, Minister Austin Gatt has responded to parliamentary questions with dismissive lame-duck excuses that fail to conceal the fact that the construction company managing the project has proven to be totally incompetent. But to blame the construction company is like shooting the messenger. The responsibility lies squarely on the shoulders of the ministry that granted the tender.

The people of Cospicua have good cause to feel offended by the attitude of the authorities: either put up or shut up. The regeneration of Dock One, an area outstanding in its historical and cultural wealth, has been long awaited and long overdue. It is nothing short of a shameful stain on the record of this government that the project should have been so badly managed.