Roads Minister Austin Gatt this evening defended the pace of road building works when speaking in reply to parliamentary questions in parliament.

Dr Gatt said more could be done with better machinery and more workers. But the problem was that contractors could not really invest more because there would in future be very few, if any, opportunities for new contracts of this size to justify the investment.

He said the current projects had been affected by a severe winter. At the Mellieha by-pass, for example, there had been two collapses because of clay in the area.

In Marsa, works on the new underpass had been held up for two months because Heritage Malta was investigating the discovery of a Turkish cemetery. In Gozo, archaeological remains were found with practically every hole that was dug.

However, despite the delays, the delivery dates for practically all the roads were being respected. The road to Valletta Waterfront would be reopened next week and Triq Garibaldi and Council of Europe Road were nearing completion. The Cirkewwa road and the road to Victgoria in Gozo would be ready in July, with a delay of some two weeks.

Opposition MP Alfred Sant asked whether the minister was defending chronic inefficiency. The government, he said, could make the necessary investment itself ahd carry out its own road building, as was done before.

Dr Gatt said one could remember what happened before. The PWD-built Marsascala bypass was built on a base which included car wrecks and mattresses. The roads of the Bugibba project under Dr Sant's government collapsed and needed to be rebuilt after two years.