More than Lm8 million will be spent on 450 residential roads over the next two years, Urban Development and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett said yesterday.

The 450 roads – the majority were never built by the central government – have been identified by the ministry and Malta Transport Authority (ADT) in an exercise that lasted two months.

Mr Mugliett said 400 roads on the list had never been built before while another 50 roads were included because of their importance to the road transport network.

Work on these roads will be divided into two phases. A total of 213 roads will be built in the first phase and this is estimated to cost Lm2.6 million. Tenders have already been issued for work on 80 of these roads and these will be awarded in the coming weeks.

Minister Mugliett said the government will be introducing a new system of period contracts. He said agreement will be reached on the prices that will be charged for each service and then contractors will be given the opportunity to bid for work if they want to.

Each contractor will be given a contract and the cost for each contract will be of approximately the same value. The work will be allocated to each contractor on the basis of a draw.

Mr Mugliett said that when a contractor completes the contract he can be given another.

The idea behind the new scheme is to reduce bureaucracy and the need to issue a tender for each new contract of work. Contractors will also be guaranteed regular work over the next two years, he said. Moreover, the period contract will also eliminate any price-cutting that could lead to an inferior quality of workmanship.

"The period contract allows us to control the quality of work and that each project is completed on time. We are not going to accept any shoddy work or unjustified delays. Whoever does not finish the work on time or to the ministry's satisfaction will not be given any further contracts," Mr Mugliett said.

The minister said priority will be given to localities where minimal work had been carried out, roads that had never been built, those that are nearly completed, roads where expropriations costs are not too high, those roads which are used by public transport and roads that provide local access.

The minister said that since 2004, the government had spent Lm47 million on new roads and the government will be increasing funds for the roads in the next budget.

"In developed countries, the average amount spent on road networks is 1.5 per cent of the GDP. To date, we have spent around 0.6 per cent of the GDP on new roads and this is expected to increase to 0.9 per cent over the next two years," Mr Mugliett said.

The government is also going to spend more than e23 million on arterial roads over the next two years. He said five major thoroughfares have been identified: Council of Europe Road in Luqa, the Sea Passenger Terminal Access Road, Marfa Road in Mellieha, the Marsascala by-pass, and the road network in the new Crafts Village in Ta' Qali.