People who went up to Gozo over the past days, including people who went up for the opera, had the unwelcome experience of once again having to detour and probably pass through badly-signed or unsigned streets to get to their destination.

The visitors would have been shocked at this experience for the government had told all and sundry the roadworks from Victoria to Xewkija had been completed, even after an inordinate length of time and expense.

Then, suddenly, the road was pulled up again. It was said that the camber (the incline) of the drainage pipes was not right and they have to be relaid again.

When he was speaking at the last of the pre-budget business breakfasts which was held in Gozo last Friday, and after this issue was raised by the floor, Minister Tonio Fenech (with Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono silent throughout) replied rather glibly thay today a contractor who makes a mistake is ordered to make good for it.

But that’s not the whole story. What should be said is that during the works, the attention of the contractor was drawn to the fact that the incline was not at the right angle. Now, the man who pointed this out happens to own a shop which sells pipes. The contractor replied by accusing this man of trying to sell more pipes.

Now it is this man who has had the last laugh (even though his shop is probably obstructed again as a result of these new road works). And the contractor has had to eat his words and do again the works.

Had the contractor been a new guy on the block, comments such as are ascribed to him could be shrugged off as the result of inexperience, but this is the contractor which, under one form or another, seems to get involved in most public works ongoing in Gozo, so such flippant and costly remarks are completely unacceptable.

Be that as it may, the detour which these roadworks necessitate, point out the gross mistake that Victoria, the island’s capital, still does not have a ring-road around it. The situation was of course much worse during the works on the upper reaches of the main road in Victoria when it was next to impossible to get from one side of the town to the other except by detours as far out as Ghasri.

The new road, once this drainage hiccup is fixed, is a wonder to drive on but improving the main road from San Lawrenz to Mgarr is only part, and a small part at that, of the story. By focusing on this and neglecting a comprehensive plan for traffic viability - mostly because the EU funds were limited to the Ten-T road from one end of the Maltese islands (San Lawrenz) to the other(the Freeport at Birzebbuga – the country’s authorities have once again put the cart before the horse.

The flippancy, superficiality and worse of the contractors (especially those who cut through electricity lines) at the same time as they rake in contracts and more contracts clearly shows how for all the spin, we have not really improved ourselves with EU accession and all.