Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1263074
12 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 JUNE 2020 Ian Borg is Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects OPINION SINCE the Labour Party was voted back into government in 2013, we have prided our- selves on the fact that we have kept every single commitment that we ever made to the peo- ple. Unfortunately, this is not something that can be taken for granted. Many political parties in Malta prefer to put forward electoral manifestos which may look nice on paper but which are then promptly ignored as soon as an election is won. This is not how the Labour Party works. Even in the face of stum- bling blocks put forward by the Opposition, we have worked night and day to reward the trust that the people of Malta have placed in us. When it comes to the infra- structure sector, the results of this are already evident. Many major projects, such as that of the Marsa Junction, the Santa Lucija Tunnels, or the Central Link project, are al- ready at an advanced stage, while other initiatives that have been ignored for years, like that of the Malta-Gozo tunnel, are also being steadily implemented. However, it is not only where such grand projects are concerned that we have focused our efforts. One of the most crucial elements of Malta's infrastructure that was routinely ignored by our predeces- sors in the decades that they spent in government was the upkeep and maintenance of the hundreds of kilometres of residential roads that span our islands. Many of the roads of our towns and villages had been badly designed, and where left in a horrific state of disrepair for years, becoming a danger to all the peo- ple making use of them and the cause of countless accidents and damages. For years, residents could only lodge repeated complaints to their local councils, but no local coun- cil has the funds and resources necessary to rebuild entire roads while ensuring that the quality re- mains consistently top notch. It is for this reason that we intervened, and pledged to spend €700 million to redo all of Malta's roads within seven years, because we could not allow the pleas of our residents to fall upon deaf ears as they have done for decades. Unlike the administrations that preceded us, we realised that our nation's infrastructure can only be truly modernised and made more efficient if it is approached holistically. As a government, we wish to upgrade the entirety of our road network, to the benefit of all the inhabitants of our islands, and not just a privileged few. We firmly believe that all our citizens deserve more safety and comfort when using the roads, irrespective of whether they are drivers making use of main arteries, farmers driv- ing on rural roads, or the residents of our cities, towns and villages. That is why we ignored those de- tractors who claimed that such an endeavour would not be possible, and went to work with the stead- fastness and determination that has characterised all infrastructure projects in the time that I have been responsible for this portfolio. Since this programme was launched towards the end of Janu- ary 2019, Infrastructure Malta has already completed the reconstruc- tion of over 150 streets around Malta and Gozo, while works on another 50 residential roads are already nearing completion. More- over, the rebuilding of a further 130 roads is also scheduled to start in the months ahead. Consequently, at this stage of the project alone, we have already rebuilt, or are in the process of re- building around 110 kilometres of road, which amounts to more than four times the length of the entire island of Malta. What this means is that there has already been an increase in the quality of life of thousands of fam- ilies who have already benefitted from this project. These families are enjoying improved comfort as they go to and from their homes every day, and thousands more will be following suit in the months to come, as our work continues. The fast pace with which we are implementing this initiative does not mean that we are sacrificing quality for the sake of speed. In fact, while previous road projects used to consist of a mere resurfacing of existing networks, we on the oth- er hand, are truly rebuilding each network from the ground up. The reconstruction work starts with the replacement or reinforcement of existing underground networks which supply water, electricity, sewage, and Internet services. In the case of these 330 roads, this has meant that we have installed around 370 kilometres of pipes, cables and cable ducts beneath the surface, and it is only once this is complete that we commence with the actual construction of the road itself. Apart from this, we have also, within the same timeframe, assist- ed various local councils with the rebuilding of several networks that were in an extreme state of disre- pair, and were proving to be a safe- ty hazard for road users. These projects, such as in the case of the Tad-Dib area of Mosta, re- quired extensive technical exper- tise and financial resources which were way beyond the reach of the Local Council's limited allocations. As such, we intervened to lend a helping hand, and in the first five months of 2020 alone, we began and completed the reconstruction of the roads in this area. In order to do so, we liaised with the local council so as to identify and pri- oritise those streets which were in most urgent need of attention, and then allocated additional resources specifically for this area, over and above the seven-year nationwide residential road reconstruction programme. It is with such a holistic and wide-ranging strategy that we are finally tackling Malta's infrastruc- ture problem once and for all. While our country's junctions and bottleneck zones are being addressed through larger, target- ed projects, every single road in our infrastructure network is also going to be upgraded, just as we promised years ago. In the eyes of this administration, all our citizens are equal, and we are determined to ensure that everyone can travel in comfort and safety, no matter the area or region that they may be driving in. Ian Borg A government that honours its promises The Santa Lucija tunnels