Broken slabs and shattered pavements are unfortunately not confined to Melita Street (Still No Answer Over Melita Street Repaving Problem and Transport Malta’s letter, October 18). There are other paved areas in Valletta that have suffered similar damage, in particular the lower part of St John Street between Strait Street and Old Bakery Street (see photo above).

A few months ago, I raised this issue in Parliament and Minister Austin Gatt stated that the Works Division would look into the problem. To date, nothing has happened and the stretch of street is still in the atrocious state it was in many months ago – indeed it has deteriorated even further.

The argument that this damage is caused by a high volume of heavy traffic is irrelevant because, surely, during the design of such paving one needed to take into account the type of vehicles that would travel over it. The state of these streets suggests that either this factor was ignored during the design stage or the materials used were substandard.

While one cannot but agree that the central commercial area of Valletta should be paved with appropriate materials and pedestrianised (after all, this project was started during 1997 by a Labour Administration) one must also take into account the uses of such streets. Since within commercial areas there are outlets (shops, bars, restaurants, offices, etc.) which need to be regularly supplied, one would have thought that prior to the paving project one would reach some form of arrangement regarding the hours during which vehicles are allowed to enter. At the moment, supply vehicles are seen on these streets throughout the whole day.

Such vehicles damage the paving either by their own weight or in some cases because they drip engine oil over the paving. Paving is only designed to withstand a certain load, so the maximum weight of vehicles using these streets has to be specified (and enforced). Ideally, supplies should be transported by electric vehicle, thus eliminating the risk of oil spillage as well as emissions, which have a deleterious effect on buildings.

Once again, the Nationalist Administration has chosen to implement a project that will embellish Valletta in a piecemeal manner. The paving project was carried out without taking into consideration the requirements of the commercial community and the effects on the paving. The millions of euros spent on the paving project should have produced much better results.