A €7 million contract to widen part of Regional Road in Msida was awarded without a call for tenders, State road agency Infrastructure Malta has confirmed.
Unveiled a fortnight ago, the project comprises the addition of a new lane on either carriageway on the stretch of road between the Santa Venera and the Tal-Qroqq tunnels.
Moreover, the existing bridge crossing Valley Road will be reconstructed to accommodate the new lanes.
Although this large-scale project, which covers an area of 440 square metres, requires a development permit, some work started straightaway without the Planning Authority’s go-ahead.
Furthermore, questions were raised about the procurement process because no indications were given by the Transport Ministry as to whether a public call had been issued.
Asked for a clarification, an Infrastructure Malta spokesman told Times of Malta that, for the time being, only works within the existing footprint were being carried out.
An existing roadworks agreement
However, he pointed out that work to widen the northbound carriageway on to adjacent land would need a full development permit, for which an application had been filed.
As for the contract, the agency confirmed that no call for tenders was issued while noting that Polidano Group and Schembri Barbros had been chosen. In a vague reply, the spokesman said that Infrastructure Malta selected the private firms “through an existing roadworks agreement with several companies”. No further details on the matter were given.
The agency also pointed out that the project stretching along 1.1 kilometres was forecast to be completed early next year, with the rebuilding of the bridge commencing soon.
As with other recent infrastructural work in major arterial thoroughfares, the addition of two new lanes is meant to alleviate traffic congestion and provide safer access to slip roads.
The decision not to award this project through a public call follows that for the widening of Tal-Balal Road, which is estimated to cost €4 million.
In this case, Infrastructure Malta had said the contractors were engaged under the “roadworks framework agreement”, which, in turn, had been awarded through a public call.
Meanwhile, the Planning Authority has recently approved the widening of Triq Buqana, on the limits of Rabat, which will result in the loss of 10,000 square metres of agricultural land and the uprooting of 40 protected trees. However, the agency is pledging to plant new ones to compensate for this loss.
In this case, a call for tenders was issued but no figure was given on the overall cost of the project. As in the case of Tal-Balal, this project will also result in the expropriation of private land.