The subway passage linking the two sides of St Anne’s Street in Floriana is in a very poor state. Despite appeals by myself and the Floriana local council as a whole, this underground connection, beneath the crucial arterial road leading to Valletta, remains in a derelict state, and our attempts to get the ball rolling and address the problem head-on have so far been futile.

The government is simply negating the problem, literally hiding it underground, away from the prying eyes of the media and the majority of the local public.

But the derelict state of our subway passage, connecting the two major districts of Floriana, has a devastating impact on the local residents, workers and tourists alike.

The photos bear witness to the neglected state of the subway passage. All light bulbs have ceased to work, except one which is covered in cobwebs.

So is the tiling of the passageway, which can be hazardous at times, with broken tiles scattered along the unsafe passage.

Nevertheless, the government remains deaf to our call torepair this important underground connection.

Needless to say, St Anne’s Street is also plagued by rubbish. It is not an uncommon site to see trash littering the ground beneath the stone arches, tarnishing the sidewalk of this arterial road.

The council is entrusted with the cleanliness of public spaces within the locality. But how can a local council, devoid of adequate public funding, address the daily influx of thousandsof workers fromother localities?

The residents have to face these problems day in, day out.

We have to accommodate a massive daily workforce, guarantee parking spaces for an overwhelming number of motorists, provide the infrastructure for national events, sometimes hosting tens of thousands, and we have toaid in coordinating international occasions.

But despite its crucial role in all these facets of Maltese cultural and commercial life, the needs of Floriana remain virtually neglected.

I believe it is high time for the government to heed our call.