The House of Representatives yesterday approved the budget estimates for the Urban Development and Roads Ministry.

Starting off the session, opposition spokesperson for public works, roads, public transport and construction Charles Buhagiar described the urban development and roads ministry as a ministry that has been plagued by a series of scandals, abuses, inefficiencies and irregularities.

As such, he said, the Prime Minister did not refer much to the ministry in question in his budget speech.

Mr Buhagiar referred to what he described as several “ghost projects” for which expenditure was approved year after year but never materialised.

Given that, echoing a phrase often used by the government, Mr Buhagiar said the government should indeed be judged not by what it says but rather by what it does.

Such ghost projects included the Marsascala bypass, the cruise liner terminal road, the Kunsill Ewropa road in Luqa and the link road from Kappara to Manoel Island.

Such roads had been promised to the country, but in reality they were no more than empty promises.

Mr Buhagiar said that Minister Mugliett was merely playing for time on the sea passenger terminal road project for the last two years. Likewise, the government had been promising an upgrade for the Marsascala bypass and that in January it had promised the process would begin soon. Still, he added, nothing had been done, not even a call for tenders.

Mr Mugliett intervened to state a tender had been issued just the previous day.

The list, however, goes on and on, Mr Buhagiar said, referring also to Triq Il-Belt Valletta, Zurrieq and the Ta Qali road.

Turning to the issue of cost overruns, Mr Buhagiar listed a range of road projects such as the Mosta ring road, the Burmarrad to Salini road, the Mtarfa bypass, Civil Aviation Avenue, the St Paul’s Bay bypass and the Hal Far road – many of which had overrun their original cost estimates twice over and some of which were already cracking and sinking.

The Mdina Road in Zebbug was another instance of inefficiency and broken commitments.

In the meantime, the effects of botched planning had left areas of Zebbug and Attard without bus shelters while people waited in the rain for pubic transport.

The Manwel Dimech Bridge reconstruction project, meanwhile, was far behind schedule while extensions were being granted to contractors and now an end date for the project, which is still not even half done, was being set for June 2008.

The Mistra bridge was another bridge facing serious problems and Mr Buhagiar questioned what the conclusions of a report drawn up by a structural engineer were.

Another case in point was the bid in 2006 to improve Malta’s four main tunnels. Expressions of interest had been issued, Mr Buhagiar said, but nothing has been heard of the initiative since.

Similarly, a footbridge over the Mriehel bypass had also been promised and the minister had said the project would have been completed by August this year but it was not even known if the tender has been published yet.

Referring to the licensing scandal at the Malta Transport Authority, Mr Buhagiar said the fact that the minister had been reluctant to have the individuals implicated fired was sending the wrong message to Malta’s government departments and authorities.

University students, he added, were also not managing to get to classes on time because of a poorly planned university public transport service.

A big question, he added, was whether the public transport service would be liberalised as required by EU directives, but when Malta had been negotiating its EU accession, no one had informed bus drivers and owners they would have faced such a problem.

In terms of capital projects, Mr Buhagiar said the Manoel Island and Tigne developments were a mess, with Tigne residents all of a sudden having faced major traffic problems.

He also questioned what had become of the hotel, supermarket and other amenities planned for the Cottonera waterfront. There were not even planning applications before MEPA for such projects.

Similarly, the Dock 1 redevelopment was still pending despite continuous statements of progress. The government has also remained silent on the Valletta opera house and bus terminus projects.

The Controlled Vehicular Access project in Valletta, he said, was falling far behind the expected Lm1.5 million yearly and was instead taking in a mere Lm30,000 a month.

The Valletta connections project, representing an important link between lower and upper Valletta, also appeared to have been shelved.

Referring to the government’s Grand Harbour plan, MLP deputy Stefan Buontempo remarked that such a project should have been placed in Mr Mugliett’s hands but was instead being handled by the Prime Minister and Minister Austin Gatt.

In the meantime, Dr Buontempo said he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about the situation created by the Nationalist Party over the last 20 years.

Valletta, he added, has to be given special attention, being both the capital and a world heritage city. As such, he acknowledged the importance of restoring its older buildings, but stressed a sustainable plan needs to be developed to encourage the quality of life in the city and to encourage more people to live there.

Nationalist MP Joseph Falzon next stressed how the government was looking at the development of the Grand Harbour area in a holistic manner and is addressing the area as a top priority.

When last in power, he said, the MLP had damaged the Grand Harbour region through bad housing policies that had diminished property prices in the Cottonera region.

Following the government’s efforts in Cottonera, home values were rising quickly and that the great steps taken in the region simply could not be ignored.

This in itself showed a stark contrast between MLP and PN policies.

Minister Jesmond Mugliett acknowledged the controversies at the ADT but stressed those involved had been brought to court and to justice.

What was striking was the stark contrast between his own time as minister and that of Mr Buhagiar.

The MLP begun the Valletta Waterfront project itself, but it had been brought to fruition by the PN as the MLP was incapable of negotiating the project while the PN was.

The Valletta Waterfront development was nearly complete, while Tigne and Manoel Island and the Cottonera developments were all moving ahead.

The people, he said, would compare the capital projects undertaken by both administrations and would quickly see the difference.

In its time in government between 1996 and 1998, Mr Mugliett said, the MLP had not built a single arterial road. It had, however, carried out the Bugibba project, which had been of a superficial, cosmetic nature. But even that project had ended up costing Lm1.5 million more than planned and had been carried out without permits from MEPA.

As such, there was a major difference between the way the government managed projects and the way the MLP had. The government, he said, issues estimates, timings, quality assurances and commitments for contractors. The MLP, on the other hand, had no such standards.

On the issue of projects that have not materialised, Mr Mugliett said the opposition did not appreciate the intricacies of attaining EU funding.

Ministries had to present their individual operational programmes to the European Commission and after negotiations they are approved after lengthy discussions all at once.

Mr Mugliett said he was hopeful the process would be wrapped up by January or February next year.

All such projects, he said, were ready to go, with MEPA permits in hand, once the go ahead was given by the EC.

The opera house site, he said, had been stalled because of a strong commercial element involved in the plans. When the project is undertaken, he said, it would be directly financed by the government in its next legislature.

Negotiations have been closed on the vertical connection projects, meanwhile, and an agreement is expected to be signed with the consortium in the near future.

The park and ride system, he said, had proved such a success that a number of local councils had requested similar schemes in their localities. In particular, he said, schemes were being considered for Pembroke and Marsascala.

Tenders for works at the Ta Qali Crafts Village are also to be issued in the near future.

The Hal Far road, he said, had suffered one of the largest cost overruns of all road project, but the matter had been handled seriously with external auditors having been brought in to assess the situation.

As for the Manwel Dimech Bridge, Mr Mugliett acknowledged he was not happy the project was running behind so far schedule, but added that the highly technical nature of the project presented its own difficulties.

But, he added, whether the project was completed three, four, or five months late – the government’s overriding responsibility was to build a bridge that lasts.

The reform of the public transport system, meanwhile, was a challenge and he appealed for maturity from parties involved in negotiations.

The ministry’s budget estimates were passed by a vote of 28-20.