Valletta Mayor Alexiei Dingli has defended the construction of a pavement in Freedom Square even though it does not form part of Renzo Piano's City Gate regeneration and will be removed in a few months' time.

The concrete pavement can be found at the bottom of the stairs leading up to St James Cavalier where the park and ride mini vans stop to disembark and pick up passengers.

Patrons of St James Cavalier and park and ride users have for years been complaining about the poor state of the pavement and operators in the area said it has been the cause of several injuries.

However, Dr Dingli said the construction of pavements in Valletta was costly because they had to be built using hard stone and according to an established master plan.

"Concrete cannot be used unless it is a real emergency or the works are of a temporary nature. Over the years we had different priorities to cater for. The Freedom Square pavement can be done in concrete because it is temporary until the works on the Piano project start," Dr Dingli said.

The work on the pavement carried out over the past few days coincided with a flurry of activity by government entities to spruce up public spaces and patch up roads the Pope will be passing through when visiting in six days' time.

Other pavement works were carried out near the Granaries in Floriana where the Pope will be celebrating Mass on Sunday.