Last week, our road network was a bustle of activity in anticipation of the Pope’s weekend visit, with much road-marking paint being used.

As most of it is already fading and exhibiting other signs of acute distress, one can safely conclude that this was a nominal paint of even poorer quality than the standard already heavily diluted product we all have been quietly tolerating for donkey’s years!

For as long as the whole local framework, starting from the top-ranking projects of rocket launching proportions right down to the routine maintenance of our roads, is misaddressed and wrongly based on heavy cost cutting for materials, while conveniently ‘forgetting’ to account for the heavy labour costs (generally camouflaged by being listed under a different budget vote) for the execution of that very same project; deplorably, the management of public funds will remain inefficient, a promoter of mediocrity and possibly faulted with abuse.

Ramon Borg-Bartolo

(Road Marking Paint Specialist)

SLIEMA