Transport and Infrastructure Minister Joe Mizzi said that experience has taught him not to rely on target dates given by contractors any longer since he has been let down too many times.
He was replying to this newsroom's questions on whether he will be committing himself to a specific target date on the opening of the new parliament building.
Mr Mizzi said that after the contractors failed to deliver on time, the government imposed fines because of the delays. Mr Mizzi did not specify when the new parliament building would open its doors.
The new parliament building has for long been a subject of controversy due to the constant delays in works and so far, the deadline has been moved several times. Besides the October and December deadlines, there had been other deadlines which were not met.
New bus service contract
Asked if he would be tabling the new public transport contract in parliament this week, Mr Mizzi replied that he would do so at the opportune moment. Yesterday, Opposition MP Marthese Portelli asked Mr Mizzi to table the contract but the minister said that he would do so in another sitting.
When pressed by this newsroom to say when he would be doing so, he said that there are still some agreements which need to be endorsed beforehand.
"I have no problem tabling the contract in parliament, opposed to the previous administration which took a year-and-the-half to table the Arriva agreement," he said.
Mr Mizzi said that in 2012, only 35% of parliament's construction works had been finalised.
Pieta-Msida bus lane incident
Mr Mizzi said that the whole scenario which led to yesterday's accident involving a 63-year-old man from Gzira who was hit by a bus on the new bus lane in Msida is being investigated.
When this newsroom quizzed Mr Mizzi on the fact that residents had warned about the dangers when the project was being implemented, Mr Mizzi said that because an incident happened there, it in no way means that something is wrong with the project and this is why Transport Malta is investigating the incident and seeking alternatives.
"The fact that we are investigating the matter means that people's concerns have not fallen on deaf ears," he emphasised.