The Ministry of Gozo has embarked on a new programme of road building which had been mentioned for quite some time. Currently, works on two major roads, the one leading to the Sanctuary of Ta' Pinu and the road from Għajnsielem all the way to Victoria, have started. Both roads are very welcome as both are in a very bad state. Once the road from Għajnsielem to Victoria is completed one, the major road cutting through Gozo will be in a good state. Once this will be continued all the way to Dwejra we would really have a main road in a decent state.
In places where, like Gozo, roads pass through open countryside, we have to be extra careful in planning them. Unfortunately, in Malta we seem to often ignore where the road passes through, thus ignore its negative impact - because roads always have a negative impact on the landscape - and do almost nothing to compensate for this. In Gozo, roads cutting through the countryside should always have trees planted on both sides. Furthermore, one must also think to plan parking areas where there is an important view.
The road leading from Għajnsielem to Xewkija certainly needed to be redone from the very bottom. The road was notorious for its different levels and for the large collection of rain water. The Xewkija local council employed two wardens who would normally hide and book all those (especially on weekends!) that avoided the rain water or the bumps by moving to the centre on the (many times invisible) white line. This stretch of road is being uplifted entirely. It is raised high above the level of the fields on one side and had long ago subsided in a bad way.
May I suggest and hope that in the large part of one side where there are no trees, provision will be made for such trees (eventually giving more shade to the wardens!) and that a small parking bay is created to enable a tourist to stop and photograph the Xewkija church which can be admired so prominently from this area.
More than a year ago I had requested that the Victorian land markings in the form of stone pillars, of which they are at least six on the road to Victoria, should be scheduled and restored. While it is good that Victorian and Edwardian telephone boxes and letter boxes have been scheduled, I cannot understand why these important markings were not also scheduled.
I also insisted that they be kept in situ as obviously their importance lies in marking a particular area. One of these lies at the start of the road which is being paved. This has been on the verge of toppling over as its base is badly deteriorated. Now it has found itself in the middle of a lot of structural activity with big machinery. One hopes that it will not only be protected but restored and kept in the position it is at the moment.