I could not help but chuckle one day last week while travelling on the road from Basel in Switzerland to Strasbourg in France.

A 20-kilometre stretch of road was closed to traffic because a new layer of tarmac was being laid. The road markings warning drivers about the ongoing work were well laid out and visible long before the diversion – and signs saying “workmen 1km ahead” really meant that there were

people working on the road “1km ahead”.

In Malta, we get signs saying “workmen 200m ahead” when drivers have already reached the area where the work is taking place. It is a hazard – for both the drivers and the workmen – that should be avoided.

By the way, workmen were still on site at 6.30-7pm. The work probably went on throughout the night, so as to create little inconvenience and finish what needed to be done in the shortest possible time. In Malta, just to give one example, work on the road linking the Mriehel bypass to Fleur-de-Lys started two months ago, and it is nowhere close to being completed. And we’re talking about a 500-metre stretch.

But I chuckled about something else.

I was imagining what a big fuss the authorities would make if work on 20 kilometres of road was carried out all in one go (how long would it take us?), and what activity (not to say celebration) we would hold once the work is completed.

The media would be called to attend the grand re-opening of the road, with the Prime Minister in attendance. Dr Lawrence Gonzi would turn up with all his staff and make a 20-minute speech (one minute for each kilometre) on what the work involved, how it was done and who was involved. We would probably get the volume of tarmac that was laid too.

Of course, Dr Gonzi would not be alone. Apart from the 1,000-odd guests, Austin Gatt, the minister responsible for roads, would be there too, as the man who commissioned the work and made sure it did not (hopefully) go over budget. Tonio Fenech would also want to be there as the man who signed the cheque, with a new pen to celebrate the occasion.

And since the road meanders around fields, and would make life easier for the farmers in the area to transport their goods, George Pullicino would turn up also. If there is a school in the area, Dolores Cristina’s presence would be a certainty as well. As the road is public property, Jason Azzopardi would attend for sure, together with Mario de Marco – but he would be there only if the road in question is in a tourist area.

Chris Said would not miss the event, as the road passes through several localities under his wing. After the main celebration, he would probably team up with the mayors of each locality involved and call the media to re-open the different stretches passing through each different locality.

Many other politicians, particularly those contesting electoral districts through which this particular road passes, would fight for the few front seats that would remain available, just to be in the picture or on camera.

There will be the cutting of a

ribbon, the unveiling of a marble plaque and the letting off of fireworks. Maybe even a concert. And we would talk about it for days.

In other countries, redoing roads is part and parcel of everyday life and no prime minister, minister, parliamentary secretary or mayor turns up when the work is finished. The road is just re-opened to traffic.

It’s because this work is “expected” from the authorities, and it is carried out long before the road becomes unusable. The Basel-Strasbourg stretch that was closed for resurfacing last week was still in very good condition, much better than most of the roads we have in Malta, and yet it was being redone because it was time to do it.

Here, we do things differently. We first wait until the road is full of potholes, then spend a few winters and summers patching it up with material that washes away with the first rains, and then hopefully, and I really mean hopefully, we resurface the road.

We might get lucky if some distinguished guest is visiting – if it’s the Pope, then we stand a better chance – and the road is redone at a faster pace.

And we do it with so much pomp and circumstance that one would think we had reinvented the wheel.

The thing is, the government should not be boasting about re-doing roads. It is part of its work to do so – whether it is doing so directly or whether it is doing it through local councils, using public money with some help from the EU.

It is the government’s duty to see that all the roads are in perfect condition – all drivers pay their road tax, and they all expect that the roads they use are worthy to be called such and do not damage their cars.

Recently, we had some news about the building of nearly 450 residential roads. Again, the government embarked on a long campaign to tell the whole of Malta and Gozo what is being done.

And you know what this means? That in 2010 we should be ashamed that these 450 roads have not yet been done. It is a shame that, in this day and age, there are still people who do not live on decent roads, and that they have to endure so much dust in summer and so much mud in winter.

But what is worse is that this boasting led many other people to complain that their roads have not yet seen a bit of tarmac, and they rightly question why this is so. Why where they left out of the plans? Why were others chosen at their expense? Are they second-class citizens?

Of course, the Opposition is making a meal out of it. After all, this government has been in office for 23 years (except for a 22-month Labour stint). So why has it waited so long to do these roads? Why does it still have a long waiting list?

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