The previous and present Nationalist administrations should be commended for regaling Malta with a good number of roads built to European standards. On the other hand, I feel they should be criticised for their failure to build a bypass at Victoria.

This essential project was the brainchild of our first Gozo Ministry. In fact it also commissioned a technical study on its feasibility.

Although this was over two decades ago, the bypass is still awaiting the green light, despite pleas by the local council and the public.

The government recently announced that it planned to build a new road from Għadira to Ċirkewwa to replace the present one in order to protect the sandy beach from further erosion.

But what is being done to relieve the people of Victoria from the toxic fumes that are daily polluting our environment and 'eroding' our health? Absolutely nothing.

A bypass would help overcome this problem, which is why it should be taken in hand without further delay.

Though so near to Malta, Gozo lags far behind when it comes to infrastructure.