Mtarfa housing estate residents living in danger as tender gets held up

Attorney General still mulling whether to take legal action against architect behind faulty Binja Buqana housing estate after damning inquiry was completed last February

Severe cracks in the ceiling at the Binja Buqana housing estate in Mtarfa
Severe cracks in the ceiling at the Binja Buqana housing estate in Mtarfa

Residents of a notoriously unsafe housing estate in Mtarfa are still living in danger and inconvenience, despite years of complaints, inquiries and political pomp, and recent repair works that cost €3 million. 

Pictures recently seen by MaltaToday clearly show severe cracks in the ceiling of Binja Buqana, pieces of concrete that had fallen off the balconies, and sewage water leaking out of the floor. MaltaToday is also informed that the lifts in the estate are both out of service. 

The apartments were built in 1994 and sold at subsidised prices as part of a government scheme, and its residents first flagged cracks in the building just two years later.

However, their complaints had fallen on deaf ears at the Housing Authority and the architect who designed the estate, Paul Camilleri, had repeatedly denied allegations that the structure was faulty. 

The incumbent Labour government pounced on this case to highlight the inefficiencies of previous PN administrations, and issued a €4 million tender document for repairs on the building. The tender closed at the start of July, but Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia told MaltaToday that it is still at evaluation stage “due to the complicated nature of the technical adjudication”. 

“The [repair] works are to start as soon as the technical adjudication is complete and the tender awarded,” he said. “This process depends on various factors, namely the clarification responses of the bidders. Once works start, the whole project is expected to take 35 weeks.” 

When asked whether immediate action will be taken to safeguard residents in light of the falling concrete, leaking sewage and faulty lifts, Farrugia said that the Housing Authority will take action on structural repairs while “non-structural issues” have been left in the hands of an association of Binja Buqana residents.

Sewage water leaking out onto the ground floor at the Binja Buqana housing estate
Sewage water leaking out onto the ground floor at the Binja Buqana housing estate

Farrugia also confirmed that the Attorney General is still mulling whether to take legal action against Camilleri, a former president of the Chamber of Architects, over a damning inquiry report.  

“It’s a very complicated legal matter,” he explained. 

The minister ordered the inquiry last year, after consultants from engineering firm Arup confirmed that the buildings were in need of urgent structural work and posed a safety risk to residents and passers-by. 

In some cases, areas of roof concrete had been prodded and pieces up to a metre in size had fallen. Other problems included beams that had not been properly covered with concrete and fallen to effects of humidity. 

The inquiry, headed by retired judge Philip Sciberras, concluded its findings in February this year, upon which the government ordered urgent structural works at a cost of around €3 million. 

Back then, Farrugia had convened a press conference to announce that the inquiry had uncovered clear shortcomings, including “incompetence, irresponsible conduct, a laissez-faire attitude, the use of inferior material that didn’t conform to the tender documents, and a lack of adequate professional surveillance”. However, he refused to publish the findings so as to safeguard the residents’ commercial interests.  

“While the government will not shoulder civic responsibility for the shortcomings of previous Nationalist administrations, we feel that it is the state’s duty to take the initiative to ensure that all necessary repairs are carried out,” Farrugia said. “The families living in the estate have been left in the dark for several years, and we will now put their minds at rest that their health and safety are being safeguarded.”