I refer to the report about a judicial protest filed against Marsascala council by a couple regarding the state of their road (October 31).

The council has been striving unanimously to fix these rural roads. I will briefly explain the works it has carried out so far and I expect that the Carters withdraw their judicial protest.

The council has been striving for the past six years (not four, as they stated) to surface these roads. The Carters should have done what other residents living in the area did and requested more information concerning the discussions being held by the council with the central government entities. Instead, they decided to file a judicial protest.

Do the Carters know how long the council has been waiting for a drainage main to be laid by the central authorities after having been promised on several occasions to wait for the next Budget? I presume they do not know simply because they did not check with the other residents or with the council.

Mr and Mrs Carter should be made aware of the numerous times the Bidni area was discussed during council meetings, which are also featured in its website, among them 19 held in March and 27 in October last year, 30 in January, 31 in February, 32 in March, 39 in August and 41 in October this year.

The council unanimously voted to resurface most of the narrow rural roads in Bidni by the end of the year with a concrete finish rather than hot asphalt because this cannot be applied due to the narrowness of the roads.

The council’s decision to resurface these narrow roads was taken before the judicial protest was filed and I must therefore emphasise that this project will be carried out in accordance with a council decision and not after this judicial protest was filed. To accomplish such a project, the council will have to draw €50,000 from funds that had been allocated for the building of new council offices. I must also mention that the initial part of Bidni road was asphalted a few months ago, thus showing the council’s good intentions. Moreover, over the past years, the council carried out patching in the roads concerned to mitigate the problem.

The council has acted properly in this matter contrary to what was stated in the judicial protest.