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- works on schedule, to conclude by end June
The Ministry for Resources and Infrastructure this week rebutted criticisms levelled against it by the Malta Labour Party.
Opposition leader Dr Alfred Sant recently lamented to the media that Paceville of late has not been maintained, rendering the area less attractive for visitors. The state of affairs is leading, according to Dr Sant, to job losses.
In a statement released yesterday, the Ministry reduced the claims to a “weak attempt at criticism by the Leader of the Opposition who is realising the continuous initiatives of projects, such as the Paceville project, which are regularly being commissioned by this Ministry in an effort to continue embellishing specific areas in the Maltese islands.”
The ongoing Paceville embellishment project is being co-ordinated by the Ministry for Resources and Infrastructure and incorporates all Paceville’s the inner roads. According to the Ministry, the project is on schedule, having been launched in October 2003 and being envisaged to continue to do so till the end of June 2004.
The Ministry is adamant that all measures are being taken to prevent unnecessary inconvenience to the commercial community and the area’s residents.
To this end, the Ministry explains how Minister Ninu Zammit and the Public Works’ architects have been in regular contacts with GRTU President Philip Fenech, who represents the interests of commercial outlets, as well as the Mayor of St Julian’s, who represents the interest of the residents, to ensure that the commitments regarding the phasing of the project is respected, as it has been to-date.
Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the project have been completed according to the planned schedule, while Phase 3, which includes the square, has been ongoing for the past few days. The completion of the whole project is planned for the end of June 2004.
Reacting to what it calls “the obvious minor inconveniences in Paceville Square and in some inner roads” the Ministry explains it would have preferred not to have inconveniences at all and appeals to the general public to be realistic.
“The planning for this project took into consideration the business community and efforts are on-going to ensure that the remaining works would not cause any avoidable problems.”
Turing back to Dr Sant’s visit to Paceville, as reported in the media, was “clearly misleading”.
“Government is committed to continue investing in this area, in which the total investment being carried out by the Ministry for Resources and Infrastructure is in the region of Lm1 million, a sum in addition to the investment in embellishment works already carried out on the Sliema and in the St Julian’s Promenade.”
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