Works to improve the storm water drain system on the border between San Gwann and St Julian’s has caused traffic chaos.

On Tuesday night, St Patrick’s Day, the problem was compounded further as St Julian’s was closed off to traffic to accommodate a huge street party. There was no way in and no way out and the result was absolute bedlam.

Wardens and police officers did try to direct traffic away from St Julian’s, but it really did not make much of a difference, as motorists ended up going around in circles. Yesterday, the wardens went one better and it certainly seems that they are mere employees who stick to their task and that’s it.

Wardens were placed at a barricade a hundred metres or so away from were trench digging is taking place. As a result, cars were diverting through a small car park in the centre reservation and proceeding to execute very dangerous turns up a one-way slip road leading down from Mikiel Anton Vassalli Bridge to Birkirkara Road. A passerby informed this newsroom that he had alerted a warden who was on duty at the barricade that there were a number of near misses. The warden’s reply was that he was on fixed point and that it was not his problem.

This newspaper monitored the situation and we saw that some three to five cars per minute were making the dangerous manoeuvre. We then later observed one of the wardens take a break from his post at the barricade about 50 metres away and cross to a playground exactly near where the vehicles were executing the dangerous turns. He did not bat an eyelid, as vehicle after vehicle performed the manoeuvre. No fines, no warnings, no nothing. No other wardens were sent to monitor the area in question, so we can only assume that they did not bother to inform their superiors. Many people give wardens a bad rap, and with behaviour such as this, it is not hard to see why. Wardens were originally set up with the intention of educating motorists and not simply being there to hand out fines. It seems that in this particular case, their sense of civic duty went completely out of the window.

It is a given that an officer on fixed point duty cannot abandon his post, but when someone alerts a warden to a potentially dangerous situation, which could lead to people being injured, one expects that something is done about it. The very least that could have been done was for the wardens to inform their superiors of the situation and appeal for more manpower. If they did and their request was turned down, then the problem is even more serious.