Residents of a street in Gżira are set to protest today over roadworks which Gżira Mayor Conrad Borg Manche said resulted in Manoel de Vilhena street becoming ‘like a desert’ because of the large volume of dust.

Speaking to The Malta Independent, Borg Manche expressed his and Gżira residents’ disappointment and ‘major suffering’ over the situation in a central part of Gżira.

Borg Manche said that works on the 250 metres of road, which is a residential area, have taken a year and three months, and are still not complete. He said that during the Gżira feast, over a month ago, workers placed temporary material to raise the street level surface to make it suitable for the feast. The Public Works Department had in June announced that temporary concrete would be laid to ensure that the feast would not be disrupted.

Since then, this material has not been removed, but rather it has created dust, which has been “suffocating everyone and everywhere” and causing great suffering, Borg Manche said.

Borg Manche said that a woman with a child came to speak to him about the matter, saying that since the temporary material was left there for over a month, her young daughter developed asthma.

He also said that the parish priest of the Gżira church, which is close to where the roadworks are taking place, said that each time the Church door opens, large amounts of dust gather on the floors, and they “are tired of constantly washing the floors.”

The mayor recently also took to Facebook to express the frustrations of the area’s residents.

In his post, he said that some have been blaming him and the Gżira local council for the delay regarding the roadworks in Manoel De Vilhena street. “This is absolutely not the case, and it’s bizarre how someone is falsely

sharing this,” he wrote.

He clarified that whoever is responsible should assume responsibility and not unjustly burden someone else.

“Residents are suffering from a significant inconvenience, with major roadworks causing disruptions and a lack of safety. A number of elderly individuals have even fallen and gotten hurt. Just yesterday, I spoke with the mother of a young girl under the age of one who resides on this road, and who is suffering from chronic asthma,” Borg Manche said.

The project started in February 2022, a year and a half of inconvenience has passed, and it’s not finished yet, but it has come to a complete halt, he wrote.

He said that primarily, the roadworks were initiated to introduce new services and lay the foundation for the infrastructure.

“These civil works were carried out by Infrastructure Malta, an entity under Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia. These works took a year and three months to complete, the significant shortage of workers to complete the job on time contributed to the delay,” Borg Manche wrote.

The laying of the tiles is the second phase, and the responsible entity is the Public Works, which currently falls under Planning Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi.

Borg Manche said that “when this year’s feast approached, the Department of Public Works issued a statement, indicating that due to the unavailability of materials, a surface made out of temporary material would be placed to level the road for the feast. This material had to be removed, but it will be left until the tiles are placed,” Borg Manche continued. This temporary surface has been in place for a month. And this material has created dust, causing significant inconvenience for people, [such] that people in this neighbourhood cannot even open their windows, apart from the respiratory issues they’re experiencing, Borg Manche lamented.

“It’s inconceivable and unacceptable for a road that’s just over 200 meters long to take all this time to be completed,” he said.

Borg Manche said that businesses on this road were forced to close due to significant financial problems. Others that are still open are suffering from a lack of business, he said.

“Hence, the residents are frustrated and greatly disappointed. Residents spoke with me and expressed the desire to protest. Therefore, as the mayor of the locality, I will be there to provide my support to these residents on Monday at 7:00pm in front of the Gżira Church,” Borg Manche said.

He appealed to everyone to join the residents of this road and support them in this protest. At the end of the day, this road is a main artery of Gżira which affects everyone, he said.

“We need to deliver this message, and above all, we need to avoid the suffering caused by the delay, much of which could have been prevented,” Borg Manche said.

The Public Works Department said that the paving of the road has resumed and work will continue on Santa Marija week so as to eliminate the inconvenience that the project is causing. Paving was halted for a time when the contractor had informed the Works Department that the company was experiencing difficulties obtaining the necessary raw material. The company had won the tender months ago but was only in a position to complete the Carlo Manche Street part of the project, as another contractor was carrying out separate works in Manoel de Vilhena Street.