I wish to correct a number of inaccurate assertions included in the article Xemxija Bypass - August Deadline For Repairs (May 22).

First of all the contractor entrusted with the job of rebuilding the bypass was Asfaltar Ltd and not Polidano Bros as stated in the article.

Contrary to the reason given in the article, Polidano Bros started work on the building of the wall to buttress the road (thereby assuming responsibility for the damage) after the Ministry for Urban Development and Roads, through the ADT, started procedures for the expropriation of the land in question.

The bypass was closed to traffic in mid-December last year after ADT personnel noted stability risks in the Tal-Fjuri hill. It was because progress was registered in the building of the wall buttressing the road that first one lane and then the other lane were opened to traffic.

Photos of the constructed wall were officially released in January or February this year showing that a substantial part of the wall was completed.

I do not hold any brief to defend Polidano Bros, however the volume of work required to build this wall cannot be judged from a casual observation from the bypass itself, and this could have led to the impression as stated in the article that "since the repairs first began last December, the work pace has been at best leisurely".