The three new schools that the government committed itself to building every year are nowhere near ready.

At St Paul's Bay where a new school is really needed, only the excavation of a large tract of land has been completed.

Same story in Victoria Gozo where a new secondary school is also really needed. Same story at Marsascala where a new school has been promised.

The three new schools were promised by Minister Bartolo back in 2015 but for one reason or another have been delayed.

The issues then surrounding the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools has not helped matters.

And in Victoria Gozo the sixth form classes will be used by Barts, the new teaching university because there is no sign yet of the new Barts facility taking off.

Apart from the power station (or stations) which have yet to be completed, and which are some two years late.

One would have thought the present administration would learn from past mistakes and its justified criticism of the delays in completing Mater Dei Hospital under the previous administration and learn to get things done on time.

There was also the case of the delays in finishing the Coast Road upgrade which cost us, if we remember, some EU millions.

For an administration which promised to do things well, all these delays have become a leit-motif.

One must also consider that in most cases, these works were promised by the previous administration, so they are not really this government's except for implementation, and that delayed. Four years after getting elected with the largest majority in Malta's history, there isn't much that can be pointed out as this administration's contribution to Malta's heritage, except the power station, of course.

One must analyse these delays and see if there is a common factor. One could add the many delays encountered in so many roadworks. Could it be that the contractors are privileging their private work and leaving the government contracts on the back burner?

The delays in the case of new schools are particularly significant. These new schools are urgently needed, especially at St Paul's Bay where the demographic changes these past years have seen the locality mushroom with the influx of so many people from so many different countries. A new school is urgently needed so that the delicate work of integration can begin. Without integration we are risking years of tension ahead.

As time goes by, and as the many big construction projects take off, there will be even less time that the contractors can dedicate to government contracts such as building schools.

That is why it is urgent for the government to get its ducks in line and ensure that the contracts do not encounter problems or delays, not at tendering phase, not at Planning Authority phase, not at construction phase.