The rain that has fallen over the past days has exposed the poor state of our roads, Malta Labour party spokesman for roads Charles Buhagiar said yesterday. This has happened in residential and arterial roads.

While it was understandable that rain causes damage, it must be said that the extent of the damage was often a result of the fact that the road surface would have already deteriorated.

This enabled the rainwater to seep into the cracks and widen them, and also cause damage to the foundations.

Mr Buhagiar welcomed the repair work being carried out by the Malta Transport Authority, but he said this was only a temporary solution “until the next storm” takes place.

What is needed is a regular programme of maintenance work that is needed to repair roads for the longer-term. A Labour government will set up a road maintenance unit that will repair roads depending on the urgency, apart from continuing to upgrade the arterial road network.