I am sure that when the time comes, Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt will want to return our Jaguar, which he uses, in as near a mint condition as possible. To help him care for it well, may I suggest that he desists from using two particular roads in Rabat, if he ever comes there. They are the two roads having the most horrendous condition in Malta.

The worst stretch of road in the country is Triq l-Gheriexem, where there is what could be a gem for the tourism industry, an ghajn tal-hasselin, where water still flows and which has a panoramic view of Mtarfa valley, but which is in total neglect. Any car is likely to end damaged if driven along this stretch, for there is no way of avoiding the potholes. I don’t think our tourism parliamentary secretary is well-travelled enough to have been there.

The second worst road in the country is one leading off Triq l-Gheriexem, a four-lane stretch called Vjal il-Haddiem. The surface is broken all over, potholes have been repaired with apparently no attention being paid to the end result, and there are highs and dips which can send a driver crashing.

Such is the state of the two roads, that the local council, months and months ago, put up signs along them saying that they are the central government’s responsibility, not its own. But of course, a government which feels no shame, has not done anything about them. That’s your “centre of excellence” mantra, and the Vision for 2015.

J. Falzon,

Rabat.