While work on other roads was at a standstill since the weekend seems to be sacrosanct for one and all, Italian workers, brought over by an Italian contractor to build one of the Italian protocol-funded roads were hard at work.

Near the SM Cortis roundabout on the road from Zebbug to Rabat, the employees of Fratelli Bassillota from Sicily were at work repairing rubble walls.

One could also see the work which has been done over the past few days. The previous road was completely dug up in just three days. The contractor has bigger trucks and bigger machines than are normally used on Malta’s roads and work is ahead of schedule.

Work to be done includes the digging of a service duct through which services will be passed. Then work will begin on the formation of the new road.

In contrast, work on the Naxxar Bypass has fallen back at a crucial time both for residents and for those visiting the Trade Fair or who pass through San Pawl tat-Targa on their way to Bugibba.

The work on the bypass, which cuts across newly built areas and would have made driving through the area far easier considering the traffic jams caused during the Trade Fair, should have been completed by the end of June. Instead, the almost completed road is there for all to see, but cement blocks bar the way and the sight only serves to increase the anger felt by residents and passers-by alike.

Sources close to the Minister for Transport said procedures have been taken to penalise the contractor, Penza Constructions, for this delay and for not keeping to the scheduled completion date.

On the other hand, it is said the contractor has barred the way so that he could give a final coating to the road and also since it is the practice of all uncompleted roads to be barred to traffic until they are ready.

A short distance away, at another road being constructed with Italian Protocol funding, near Chadwick Lakes, some delays are being experienced by the contractor because of Enemalta’s refusal to replace a 50-year-old cable, wrapped in cloth, which is due to be shifted to a service duct.

Apart from the wear and tear such a cable would have suffered over the years, handling it could be a hazard for the workers themselves.

Many times, it was reported, delays are experienced during roadworks, through no fault of the contractors, but because of the conflicting interests of the corporations whose services pass along that particular stretch of road.