Why are the central government and several local councils failing so miserably in the upkeep of road markings? I don't go driving around the island every week but I can deduce this shortcoming from the major thoroughfares I pass through regularly.

The area around the Workers' Monument in Msida is a case in point, though by no means the only one.

The road markings showing the four lanes are obliterated, making judgment difficult as to who is in which lane.

And what about the plight of driving tourists? At least we know that there are supposed to be four lanes but they don't. I live in a district of St Julians. Recently I breathed a sigh of relief (too soon!) when I saw workers preparing to do some work in front of The Malta Independent building. Thinking I had been spared the chore of writing to The Times, I was flabbergasted when I passed that way again on the next day to see that all the ado had been to embellish the traffic islands! Paint for paint, wouldn't it have been much more cost-effective, accident-wise, if the priority had been given to marking the lanes?

That particular area, especially the part leading from San Ġwann, is an accident waiting to happen. There are supposed to be two lanes, the left one showing that it is specifically for Ta' Giorni but drivers regularly stop there and drive towards Birkirkara Road and Mrabat Street, in most instances cutting it short across the path of drivers who wait on the right lane as they should.

The very accessible mayor of Ta' Giorni once told me that there was a standing contract with the road markers that all parking bays should be refreshed every six months.

Wishful thinking! In one particular area at Ta' Giorni housing estate they have not been done since they were first installed some three years ago!