Dangerous Mtarfa road made safe through €120,000 project

An Mtarfa road that had become dangerous due to rock erosion has been made safe through a €120,000 project.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg visited the completed project at Triq l-Istazzjon on Wednesday morning.

The project was carried out by the Public Works Department.

Hailing the project as an “investment in our communities,” Borg said that the government felt the need to intervene to remove the danger caused by erosion.

This problem in the rocks has now been addressed through shotcrete, which was painted to integrate with existing rock, while a number of surveys of the same rock were taken before rock bolting was carried out and a stainless-steel net was installed to avoid danger.

The project also included the creation of a segregated pedestrian passage, improvement in the safety of the stairs connected to the road and the installation of adequate lighting.

The ministry said that this is one project in a series of other projects of its kind. “This department is currently carrying out a lot of research and work to carry out these kinds of interventions, such as in Għar Lapsi and St Peter’s Pool, and to see more of this in other zones as well. Investments were also made in advanced equipment and drones, so that the department can have a clearer picture of what needs to be done. In November 2018, the Ministry had organized a conference about the country’s coastal zones, and another conference is planned for this September.”

“We want to be proactive and that is what we are doing. We will continue investing to see that our country is safer, from coastal zones to the roads in our villages. The Public Works Department’s work remains valuable and, as a Ministry, we will continue investing resources and energy in our communities. We will continue planning, working and delivering more of such projects towards a better quality of life for all our communities,” Borg concluded.