[WATCH] Residents and businesses irked by state of Vjal il-Haddiem in Rabat

Roadworks in Rabat's Triq Vjal il- Haddiem have been going on since January

Blazing sunshine, dust clouds billowing, deserted shops and the street resembling a moon scape… you would be forgiven for thinking Vjal il-Haddiem in Rabat was the set for an old-fashioned Western movie or a war-torn country, but the telltale yellow hard hat and occasional concrete mixer act as a reminder that this is indeed a roadworks site.

Residents and shop owners at Vjal il-Haddiem have expressed their disappointment and irritation over the state of the road, where works have been going on since January.

Speaking to MaltaToday, business owners said that asphalting had originally been scheduled to finish by 14 July, but that the road will now remain closed until October at least.  

Contacted by MaltaToday, Transport Malta said that the full project is set to be completed by mid-October, sticking by the original plan. The contractor is planning to asphalt the road this month.

“The project will be completed by mid-October as originally planned. The works are on schedule,” a spokesperson for Transport Malta said.

“This road was in dire need of reconstruction, as it hadn’t seen any sort of renovation in 37 years at least. But the condition now is extremely uncomfortable,” one of the residents told MaltaToday, stressing that the road needed a complete upheaval, even replacing the services in the area, to be properly resurfaced.

The residents acknowledged that the workers had been working to their best ability, even weathering the suffocating heat waves the country has had in recent weeks.

“The problem is that they seem to be understaffed,” one shop owner explained.

“To add insult to injury, when the project originally started in January, it kept on being delayed due to the poor weather conditions and the flooding that often affects this particular area.”

They further explained that the workers had also tried their best to ensure comfortable access to homes and shops despite the construction works.

“The workers have really done their best, providing us with small slopes and clearing access to our homes, to be able to access our drive-ins and the shop entrances,” they said.

Another business owner added that, despite the workers’ best intentions, business had almost completely dried down over the past months, with people opting not to enter the dust filled road.

“Some shops are even choosing to close completely on certain days, because business is so bad,” one owner said.

A number of the residents also mentioned that they suffer from asthma or similar respiratory problems, which were becoming particularly challenging due to the current conditions.

Transport Malta said that it was “sensitive to problems faced by residents” and that the contractor had been instructed to wet the area with water bowsers. Yet, residents insisted that these individuals weren’t always at hand.

 Some of the business owners lamented the fact that some sections of the long road only required a layer of tarmac to be at least functional and Transport Malta said that it planned to asphalt the road some time in August.

 “At lease one layer of tarmac would go a long way, even in making sure that all the hard work is sealed against any possible changes in the weather,” he stressed.