Infrastructure Malta, tasked with national plans for road construction and infrastructure strategies, will not be responsible for Gozo, at least for the time being, the Times of Malta has learnt.

Sources said roads in the sister island would continue to fall under the responsibility of the Gozo Ministry. When Transport Ministry announced the setting up of the new agency last year, which was assigned the role previously held by Transport Malta, it had declared that all roads, including those in Gozo, would fall under Infrastructure Malta.

However, the sources said that Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana successfully argued that her ministry should remain responsible for roads there.

Subsequently, the Transport Ministry had to modify plans for Infrastructure Malta, which, the sources pointed out, was still insisting that it should ‘eventually’ also handle the Gozo road network.

Such a move could project Gozo as the fiefdom of a minister

“The Ministry for Gozo is currently entrusted with road development on the sister island,” a spokesman for Infrastructure Malta said when asked.

Read: The seven-year path to fix the country's roads

He said the agency was collaborating with the Gozo Ministry “to provide its support in the existing investments for the reconstruction of Gozitan roads to gradually start implementing its own road projects in Gozo as well”.

He stopped short from saying when would Gozo’s road network fall under the new agency’s remit.

The state of affairs was also confirmed recently in parliamentary replies Transport Minister Ian Borg gave to shadow Gozo minister Chris Said.

Industry sources questioned the decision to keep Gozo’s road network separate from Infrastructure Malta. “If the government decided to take the responsibility for all roads away from local councils and put it under one umbrella in the new agency to make a better job, it is very strange that Gozo should be kept out of the equation,” they insisted. Such a move, they remarked, could project Gozo as the fiefdom of a minister.

The new agency has issued a call for tenders for work on about 120 roads in Malta next year. When asked whether any new Gozitan roads would be constructed in 2019, Infrastructure Malta said “information can be obtained from the Ministry for Gozo”.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com