More than 700 roads have been rebuilt across Malta and Gozo in the past three years as part of the €100 million investment a year by Infrastructure Malta, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects Ian Borg said today.

Speaking in Naxxar, Borg said 194 of these 709 roads were built this year.

Out of these, 123 were residential roads and 71 were rural passages which many a time connect localities together. Borg said that capital projects such as the Marsa junction and the Central Link which would be completed in October are not included in this list.

When it comes to the Naxxar region and the roads being rebuilt Borg said that, seven out of 13 roads are nearing completion. At present, work is being done by Infrastructure Malta contractors on more than 50 residential roads and 26 roads which are rural, Borg said.

We are rebuilding roads, not simply resurfacing. This helps with passing utilities cables, refurbishing old pipelines and also laying electrical cables. The 709 roads built in three years amount to an average of four roads a week. These are roads which were taken off the responsibility of the local councils which did not have the money to do the job.

Borg said that there are 4 years worth of road works which still have to be done. He also said that “the rate at which things were being done was too slow and one has to recognise the work which is being done now.”