Minister Joe Mizzi blames road contractors for road work delays

Transport Minister Joe Mizzi has said that stronger deterrents are needed to ensure contractors do not miss their road work tender deadlines, indicating that fines are not enough.

The minister said that he found such situations since first taking office where contractors would just receive fines for delayed projects, but “this would not solve the situation of the works not being completed on time. It used to be the order of the day,” he said, adding that while the situation has improved, a change in mentality is needed.

He said that he has experienced situations where the completion time listed in the tender is not kept, and people end up complaining when it comes to road works, with the contractor just having to pay a fine. “A remedy must be found, and the work must completed,” he said. “If needs be, in such situations we should be able to get someone else to continue the work.”

He explained that this also costs the country, and contributes to congestion.

He was unable to give any concrete examples of what the deterrents could be, but said that experts should ensure that a strong deterrent be introduced to guarantee good, timely work.

The minister was addressing a press conference on the Triton fountain project, but asked by this newsroom, he said that he was not referring to this project when he brought up the issues mentioned above.

As part of the works being done around the fountain, 13 kiosks have been removed so far, generating around 190 tonnes of construction waste, he explained. The material was separated on site, and he said that the works were done at night due to the influx of people during the day.

Restoration on the two bridges is now complete. The work in front of the Education Ministry has also concluded, and a new roundabout constructed, he said.

The minister also explained that a new waiting zone, which will take around 12 buses, is being made in Nelson Road, in order to make up for the loss of waiting area around the fountain, which will be pedestrianised. Information kiosks will also be installed there, and new trees planted.

As for the Triton fountain itself, over the past months, the government was involved in negotiations which resulted in a signed agreement between it and the joint venture Sea Fountain One.

The bronze statues have been removed and the next step, he said, is for an agreement to be signed with an Italian company to send a trailer to Malta to transport them to Italy so that restoration work can commence.

He spoke about the new Valletta Servicing Directorate, and said that they have conducted cleansing work at night and also replaced a number of lights around the capital city at night.

Work is also underway to issue tenders to fix a number of pavements around the city.

If needs be, in such situations we should be able to get someone else to continue the work