Six months after its inauguration, the €53 million Coast Road project is still incomplete with pedestrian lights missing along its 7.3km route, to the detriment of nearby residents needing to cross this major thoroughfare.

Last February, the issue was raised in parliamentary questions and Transport Minister Joe Mizzi told Opposition MP Ċensu Galea that the lights would be installed by mid-March.

Though both the poles and gantries intended to hold overhead traffic lights have been erected since then, the works have hit a fresh hitch, prompting fresh criticism from Salini and Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq residents who have to negotiate their way across this busy arterial road on a daily basis.

Contacted by the Times of Malta, a Transport Malta spokesman did not give an exact date for the completion of works. He said the project’s technical supervisors had asked for a series of clarifications on the gantries and poles. “The contractor is to present a report in the coming days. In the meantime, Transport Malta installed temporary lighting at the Buġibba junction,” the spokesman said.

Residents vented their frustration with this newspaper that the authorities were dragging their feet. Some of them even flagged the issue through a personal e-mail to the Prime Minister.

“I hope it won’t take a fatal accident for authorities to act, as it would be too late by then,” an irate Salini resident said.

Dubbed by the transport watchdog as “the most beautiful road in Malta”, the project was inaugurated last November, in time for the Commonwealth and Migration summits.

The EU-funded project had been at the heart of a controversy after the European Court of Auditors chided the government over procurement irregularities which resulted in the loss of €11 million on this project. It transpired that the government had renegotiated with the contractors, saying it wanted to reduce the overall cost of the project by €30 million.

However, it emerged that parts of the original project had been scrapped, including some retaining walls, pavement and crash barriers. The ministry had said that the omitted works had not jeopardised the road’s overall safety.