Buġibba residents and shop owners have had enough of the poor state the popular tourist resort is in, fearing people could soon stop visiting it altogether.

Frustrated by the state of the roads and the lack of upkeep, shop owners told the Times of Malta things have gone from bad to worse in recent years and the roads were in such an awful state that many tourists were evidently avoiding Buġibba.

“Everyone has completely given up on Buġibba. We go back and forth between the local council and the government but it’s useless. We’re completely forgotten here,” a jewellery shop owner, who asked to remain nameless, said yesterday.

Pointing to one of the many massive potholes along the promenade, the man said the place did not only look shabby, with many tourists often complaining to him about the state of the area, but the condition of the roads had become a danger to both passers-by and motorists.

“Last summer, just a few minutes after we closed up for the night, a driver was manoeuvring his car to avoid a huge pothole and lost control of the vehicle, mounted the pavement and smashed our shop window.

“Had I been clearing up or had someone been walking on the pavement, we could have been killed. Is that what it takes for some action to be taken?” he pleaded.

Although, come summer, efforts are stepped up to attract tourists and locals to the locality, no real improvements are ever made to the existing infrastructure, the jeweller said.

Run-down hotels had become the norm, he continued, with many closing down but never being renovated, resulting in derelict buildings that attracted dumping and rodents.

“We have been here some 25 years, and other than the changes to the square, we have yet to see anything being done.

“How do we expect tourists to come here when the place looks more like some ghost town than a tourist area?” the jeweller said, pointing to a mishmash of cables above his shop sign and adding that he had reported the wiring problem to the authorities several times. Still, he was quick to point out, the issue had yet to be sorted out.

A salesperson who works in a shop further up the road and who also preferred anonymity echoed similar concerns, saying customers often walked on the other side of the road to avoid the puddles of muddy water that collects in potholes.

“I have to keep a bucket and a mop at hand, because mud and debris from the potholes constantly end up in the shop. Sometimes customers are just flabbergasted. That’s not the way to do business,” he said.

Residents are just as disappointed. Acknowledging that the promenade needed urgent attention, they pointed out that the state of residential areas was just as bad and needed to be tackled too.

The area close to the church, one resident pointed out, was in a shambles, and residents had to deal with mounds of garbage that was dumped there regularly.