Swift action by the Gudja local council led to the removal within days of tarmac illegally laid across a country lane in the historic Bir Miftuħ area, raising concerns about nearby archaeological remains.

The lane before the tarmac was laid.

The tarmac surfacing was removed by the contractor responsible at the authorities’ insistence on Tuesday, three days after it had been laid without a permit on a stretch of lane off Dawret il-Gudja, close to the airport.

Upgrading works are being carried out in Dawret il-Gudja, the arterial road between Għaxaq and Gudja, by government agency Infrastructure Malta.

The illegal tarmac surfacing was first flagged by local councillor Stefan Caruana, who said the Bir Miftuħ area was the site of historic remains including a dolmen and menhir and was located close to the Ħal Resqun catacombs.

The lane itself, he said, was likely to have been in use since the time of the Knights of St John.

Following the councillor’s complaints, the issue was taken up by newly-elected mayor Marija Sara Vella, who said she contacted the authorities to ask for the works to be reversed.

“We insisted that, as a historical area, studies should be carried out before anything happens with that road,” she told the Times of Malta. “Infrastructure Malta understood our concerns and immediately took action: I think it was positive from both ends.”

The government roadworks agency recently faced controversy after concrete was laid to widen a number of country lanes in Wied l-Isqof, Rabat.

It was forced to reverse the works on orders from the environment authority, which said the works had led to “biodiversity destruction” and altered the physical profile of the valley.

Last summer, Transport Malta laid asphalt on a stretch of the valley bed at Wied Qirda, near Siġġiewi, formalising an ‘illegal’ road that had been subject to an enforcement notice since 2007. The PA said earlier this year it had decided to withdraw the enforcement notice and no further action would be taken over the new road.