From Mr M. Sciortino

I have read your statement on Extensive Road Maintenance and fail to understand why, some years back, the government instituted local councils to ensure that local residents are served well, yet in your statement you tell us that some roads are the responsibility of the ADT and others are for the local council to look after.

I beg to disagree with you, because it should be that all or any reports on the roads should be directed to either one or the other and then channelled to whichever is to take action. Why should I have to know which roads fall under the ADT and which the local council?

For example, in the area in which I live – St Paul’s Bay – there are only eight roads listed under the ADT and the rest, most of which are in a depressing state, are the responsibility of the local council. On many occasions I have taken the option of reporting roads that need attention to the local council, but there has still never been any action – and I do not mean for days or months but for years – so where does that leave us: in a mess.

Some 240,000 car owners pay an annual road tax for the use of the road network in Malta. There should be one body that looks after this and considering the amount of money collected annually, we should have roads like nowhere else in Europe. Instead, we had to wait to join the EU and for assistance from Italy for the roads to begin reaching EU standards.

I trust that some action is taken to resolve these problems, some of which have been with us for many months.

Michael Sciortino

ST PAUL’S BAY