Mechanic demands €26,000 from Enemalta after faulty meter reduces garage to ash

A father and son whose garage was gutted by a fire caused by a mains fault are demanding at least €26,000 in compensation from Enemalta.

The demand was made in a judicial letter filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court by lawyer Emmy Bezzina on behalf of 62-year-old Augustine Bonnici and his son Roderick, 32, against Enemalta, the Commissioner of Police, the Attorney General, the Minister for Justice and ARMS.

The letter explains how on 5 October last year, their garage in Triq Ġuże Ellul Mercer Iklin suffered structural damage and its contents – a Hyundai and specialised mechanic's tools – were destroyed. A court-appointed expert had informed them that the fire had been started by a defective electricity meter.

The car destroyed in the blaze belonged to a friend of the son

The garage belonged to the father and had been used by the son who also worked as a mechanic on the side. The car destroyed in the blaze belonged to a friend of the son, as did an engine, which also perished in the fire.

Before the fire, the garage had been worth €38,000 and the tools stored inside it €43,000, they claimed. Today its value was “zero,” as nothing could be done with it anymore. Besides the cost of rebuilding the now structurally unsound garage, the plaintiffs said they would have to incur the expense of cleaning, transporting and disposing of the contents.

They demanded compensation for the loss they have suffered and the future expenses they are going to suffer as well as for being prevented from using the garage.