Large stretches of Zebbug’s main thoroughfare, Mdina Road, are being ruined. Hundreds of metres of the road leading to a building site are being covered by demolition waste and other debris, making the road practically unusable, particularly for those on motorcycles and bicycles.

Following complaints by several road users, The Shift visited the site last week and found that large trucks owned by Tal-Maghtab contractors leave the site every few minutes, loaded to the brim with construction waste, but without washing their tyres as required by law.

Residents living close to the area told The Shift that nothing has been done despite several reports already submitted to the Building and Construction Agency (BCA). The BCA is the entity tasked with ensuring that these things do not occur.

The Wheel Washing Facility (blue circle) drawn on the method statement is not on site.

The debris that has now settled on the road is the result of ongoing excavations at the former SMW Cortis Timber factory and has rendered the main road leading to the site challenging for motorists.

“Apart from the hundreds of thousands of damages being done to a public main road, this is now becoming dangerous for motorists as the road has completely lost its grip. We hope that the BCA intervenes and ensures that the contractors fix the situation,” they said.

According to the method statement presented by the project’s architect, Kurt Camilleri Burlo’, the area where the demolition and excavation are taking place should have a tyre-washing facility to ensure that trucks leave the site with clean wheels. When visiting the site, the Shift found no such facility.

The BCA refused to reply to The Shift’s questions asking why it has not yet addressed the issue and whether it carries out any site inspections.

Once a large timber factory, the Cortis compound is being converted into a new LIDL supermarket.