The reconstruction of the road leading from Victoria to Xlendi was tailored to meet the interests of the hired contractor to the detriment of tourism operators, according to the Labour Party.

Anton Refalo, Labour spokesman for Gozo, said the works should have been carried out in winter, when the village was not so busy. He slammed the Gozo Ministry for allowing the works to take place now and said one of the companies involved, Road Construction Ltd, had been awarded other contracts. The contractor, he said, had partnered with another company and was awarded the contract worth €1,500,000.

"Road Construction Ltd... has been awarded almost all the ministry's contracts in the past years... which cost millions of euro," Dr Refalo charged.

The road works, which started last week, form part of a bigger €9.5 million project that includes the road to Ta' Pinu, work on which is nearing completion.

The EU is providing 85 per cent of the funding, with the rest coming from the government.

The ministry said last week the road works had been delayed because of tender procedures and appeals.

Reacting to Dr Refalo's comments, the ministry denied the allegations, accusing the opposition of trying to disrupt the work the government was trying to do rather than expressing its satisfaction that something was being done for the island's benefit.

It said works started now because a call for tenders was issued twice, after no satisfactory submissions were made on the first call. "Therefore, the road works must be carried out in the coming months to ensure that the project is completed within the stipulated timeframe, as agreed when it was approved for financing by the EU," it said.

"The tendering process always was, is and will be according to public procurement regulations and solely based on fair competition. It is an open and transparent one and, therefore, the ministry never and in no way favoured any company."