A hundred and sixty-five residential roads have been completed or are nearing completion since last year; making up 35 per cent of residential roads that the government has promised to build by the end of 2008.

Urban Development and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett said this yesterday while presiding over the drawing of lots for the assignment of work of period contracts to be carried out on 44 residential roads and two roundabouts.

The work, costing Lm840,000 (EUR1,956,673.65) is to be carried out in 19 localities and has been assigned to 13 contractors. The following are the localities where work will be carried out: Birkirkara, Naxxar, Attard, Paola, Tarxien, Zebbug, Fgura, Zabbar, Marsa, Marsascala, St Paul’s Bay, Mellieha, Mqabba, Qrendi, Mosta, Swieqi, Zejtun, Dingli and Rabat.

The minister said 537 residential roads have been built in Malta since the start of the present legislature in 2003 and by the expiration of the period contracts assigned yesterday, the government will have completed approximately 45 per cent of the programme which was launched last August.

Mr Mugliett said roads that sustained substantial damage were included in the programme, besides roads that have to be constructed from scratch. The construction of each road, said the minister, required a lot of preparatory work, as well as consultations with a number of entities and service providers, such as the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, Enemalta, Go, Melita Cable and the Water Services Corporation. He also thanked the local councils for their cooperation.

He said also that the Transport Authority supervises the work done in order to ensure that the roads are up to standard and that the construction tempo does not slack. The minister added that the programme provides for a fair division of contracts among operators, as well as improves the urban environment, thus leading to an improved quality of life for residents.

Yesterday’s distribution of period contracts follows the assignment in December of 22 period contracts for 70 roads in 22 different localities as well as the building of other roads that were assigned between April and June. Therefore, the government, since last December invested Lm2.75 million (EUR 6.4million) in period contracts for the construction of residential roads.