It is not without good reason that people smiled cynically and blurted out “it only happens in Malta” when they read the news item in The Times the other day about the time it is taking to fix the barriers to the Regional Road bridge after a truck almost fell off to the street below in an accident there four months ago.
What has made this excessive delay even more embarrassing was the comparison made with the repair, in less than a week, of a Japanese highway made unusable by the recent earthquake in that country.
The work involved the rebuilding of a huge section of the highway and, for good measure, they even managed to do the highway guardrails and lane markings. This amazing feat drew admiration for a kind of efficiency that people everywhere would like to see in their own countries.
Things are done differently in Malta. The country is still more laid-back than many others, though there are places that are markedly worse. But, of course, this is no consolation to those who crave for a higher degree of efficiency all round and for a sharp cut in bureaucracy everywhere. How can the authorities begin to explain the delay in repairing the Regional Road bridge? According to Transport Malta, the works were in the procurement stage and that it was targeting the beginning of June to start the work on site, “subject to no appeals being filed during the procurement stage”. Beginning of June?! Why should it take so long to get on with the procurement stage?
A structural engineer has suggested that the barrier be replaced with “properly designed metal vehicle restraint system”. Has his suggestion been accepted? The long time the transport regulator is taking to handle the job is completely unacceptable in this day and age and the government ought to step in and make sure the work is speeded up, without sacrificing quality in whatever work is planned to be done at the bridge to ensure greater safety.
It is not enough to build new roads; these have to have proper railings or bumpers, where required. Equally important is the keeping of good road maintenance all the time, not just for a few months after they are opened. Quite a good number of roads have now been built or rebuilt but very often maintenance falls below acceptable standards. The Auditor General has remarked in a performance audit report on road surface repairs on arterial and distributor roads that the best way to keep the road network up to a suitable quality standard is to formulate and implement an adequate preventive maintenance programme. This would involve carrying out works before damage to the road surface actually occurs.
Many roads are left in a state of disrepair for far too long and, when the repair work is finally done on them, the standard is often poor, drawing criticism and generating frustration among motorists who justifiably expect good roads for the licences and taxes they pay. In his report, the Auditor General raised quite a number of points, one of the most disquieting being that 37 out of the 43 contracts reviewed were contested by a single bidder. He also found a number of shortcomings with regard to the inspection system used in identifying road surface defects.
Hopefully, the recommendations made in the report would now be taken on board so that Malta would have a better road network.