Most of the work needed on 70 residential roads in various parts of Malta should be completed by the end of April, Urban Development and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett said yesterday.

During a visit to Attard, where 12 of these roads are being built, Minister Mugliett said the system the government had introduced to award tenders for such work was leaving the desired effect.

Period contracts were resorted to for the work to be completed as quickly as possible. “From what has been seen in the past six weeks, it is clear that the contractors are keeping up a good pace and that most of the work that was awarded in late December has already started,” Mr Mugliett said. The total cost is Lm170,000.

Two of the roads in Attard have already been surfaced with tarmac, he said. The roads that are being built are Lorenzo Manche, Zbiba, Sardinella, Fikus, Bettija, Zragen, Mixtla, Zahar, Laring, Tahhan, Emvin Cremona and Peter Paul Rubens streets.

He said that only seven other roads needed to be built in the locality, and once these were completed, Attard would be put on the list of towns and villages that would have been “completed”.

Although the Malta Transport Authority was focusing on the time factor, the quality of the work was not being neglected, Mr Mugliett said.

Since August, 150 roads, or one-third of the 450 that need to be seen to, have been built. The government was convinced that the work on all roads could be completed before the end of next year, the minister said.