The simple fact that the rebuilding or resurfacing of roads becomes a major news item in our country is testament to just how bad our infrastructure is.

But, let it be said, the fact that €13.5 million is to be spent on 448 residential streets is good news and should be welcomed by all. But it truly is quite pitiful that the year is 2010, and we are still trying to pass off having up to standard roads as being ‘mana from Heaven’. People pay their road taxes, so why should they have to wait this long to get a decent street?

Unfortunately, the powers that be still sometimes think that it is the 1950s and that the general public will lavish them with thanks for something that should have been seen to years ago. Of course, people will argue that local councils are given a budget and that city and village streets should be paid for out of that money. But the stark truth is that the budget is simply not enough.

Decent streets, decent street furniture, libraries and little squares and gardens are considered a right nowadays, and not a perk.

All this being said, we reiterate that the fact that the streets are being re-done is a very good thing and no one can justifiably complain. But there are many localities where driving is a nightmare which can only be conquered by driving a four by four Lunar Rover – should people still be putting up with it in 2010?

There are houses and apartment blocks that are not even served by roads – they are served by a simple stone track. There are streets in various villages which have not been resurfaced for years. Sure, the people are kept quiet by the sporadic patching exercises which take place, but in reality this is more of an insult than doing nothing at all. Patching serves no purpose whatsoever – the tar just comes up as soon as a few vehicles have been over it, or when the rain season comes in.

We understand that in decades past, there were other priorities such as building houses and developing our tourism product. Let us take 1990 as a benchmark for a modern Malta. Should it have taken 20 years for certain streets to be rebuilt, or to be surfaced for the first time? We can no longer take the attitude that business and tourism come first. The people of Malta and Gozo – our citizens should come first.

People are working harder than they have ever worked and they are paying more direct and indirect taxes than they have ever paid before. It is only right and just to put some of that hard work and some of those taxes back into infrastructure on a local level. We have seen improvements in the past few years, and of course we are aware of the many local and national projects which are improving the lives of residents in various towns, villages and cities. But these improvements cannot be passed off as being a ‘gift’. They must be presented for what they are, normal civic rights which each and every citizen of Malta should expect. Such projects are not social benefits or handouts, they are (or should be) a fair return for the taxes each and every citizen pays out of his own pocket to improve his or her quality of life. Let us hope there is more to come.