Mosta road closed off due to faulty stormwater gratings

Mosta’s Triq il-Kbira, which has been closed for road works for two years, will once again be closed off due to faulty stormwater gratings. 

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the Mosta local council stated that road works started and will last until Saturday.

Reacting to the news on Thursday, Mosta PN councilor Joseph Gatt called the news “incredible.” 

“Everyone knows that Triq il-Kbira’s residents have been living in inconvenience for a long time,” Gatt said, citing dust, a lack of accessibility and noise pollution among other nuisances. 

He stated that it is unacceptable that after years of inconvenience, the road must once again be closed for four days because it already needs repairs.

In response, Labour Mosta mayor Chris Grech asked, “Have you ever bought something that happened to be defective and returned it?” Grech cited a “faulty batch” of stormwater gratings as the cause of the early road works.

The mayor stated that the local council would not be paying for the works, as the providers will be incurring the costs.

Road works in Mosta have been the source of controversy in recent months. Last year, the owners of seven businesses based in Mosta’s main street filed legal action over roadworks which had been ongoing there since 2020.

Controversy erupted again last November, as the Mosta local council unanimously agreed with the removal of the 12 ficus trees next to the church and their transplanting to another area in Mosta.