The Mrieħel bypass footbridge, which is still incomplete, can rake in just under €23,000 a month in advertising, according to rates quoted by the private operators.

The government has warned Steel Structures Company Ltd to finish the project or face the consequences.

Lifts, which according to the yet unpublished contract between Transport Malta and the company, had to be in place by February last year are still missing.

Transport Minister Ian Borg had assured Parliament the lifts would be in use by the agreed date but he was forced to make a public apology when this did not happen.

Times of Malta was informed that advertising on the footbridge, built on a public-private partnership basis, is handled by Aiken Services Ltd, which was formed a month after Labour was swept to power in 2013.

It’s one of the most prominent advertising spots in Malta

It provided the party with billboards during the last two electoral campaigns. A sales representative of Aiken Services said an advert on the footbridge would cost €3,800 a month, including printing and installations costs.

READ: Constructors to recoup footbridge costs through advertising revenue

“The Mrieħel bridge has the potential of six adverts, which automatically turn in a turnstile motion every few seconds,” the representative said.

“It is one of the most prominent advertising spots in Malta and, compared to other advertising tools, it is also one of the best around.”

Estimates by Times of Malta based on the quoted rates show that Steel Structures can make over €5 million if it manages to sell all advertising space over the 20-year concession.

Advertising agents described the footbridge’s potential as “gold mine”.

“The space on the bridge, which for the past year has only been serving as a gigantic advertising billboard, is always sold because its position is unbeatable,” one agent remarked.

Another deemed it “unbelievable” that the operators had not installed the lifts yet, “thus highlighting their incompetence instead of milking their investment even further”.

In a judicial protest filed in December, lawyer Katrina Borg Cardona, on behalf of Transport Malta, gave Steel Structures seven days to install the lifts or face the consequences.

No further action is known to have been taken since.