Mtarfa housing estate repair works to be completed in a year

Urgent repair works on a housing estate in Mtarfa will be completed in a year’s time, costing the government around €4 million.

The announcement was made by social solidarity minister Michael Farrugia, during a press conference at the Binja Buqana estate.

The repair works will bring to a close a long-running saga for the estate's residents who had first flagged cracks in the building in 1996, but whose complaints had fallen on deaf ears at the Housing Authority.

The apartments were built in 1994 and sold at subsidised prices as part of a subsidised scheme. Paul Camilleri, the architect who designed the estate had repeatedly denied allegations that the structure was faulty.

However, engineering firm Arup last year found problems in pillars and concrete beams in two of the estate’s blocks that they warned pose safety problems to residents and passers-by.   

A tender document for the necessary repairs will close on 7 July. Farrugia said that the works will "restore dignity" to the residents of Binja Buqana, after 20 long years.