The Traffic Management Committee has told the Water Services Corporation that road trenches need to be resurfaced as soon as pipes are laid rather than having to await water pressure tests when a whole project is completed.

The decision was announced in Parliament by Transport Minister Joe Mizzi after Nationalist MP David Agius complained that trenching works in the environs of Pama supermarket in Attard had been going on for many weeks.

Mr Mizzi  said there had been a situation where roads were not resurfaced for as long as two months until the Water Services Corporation completed its pipe-laying projects and the pipes were tested through a water pressure test.

This situation, Mr Mizzi said, was unacceptable and it had been agreed that resurfacing would take place as soon as mains were laid.

Failures in pressure tests were not frequent, he said, but if they happened, only the stretch of road where the failure took place would need to be dug up again.

Mr Mizzi pointed out, however, that surfacing could only take place when contractors were available.