Christian Borg fined €3,000 for health and safety violations on Żabbar construction site

Car dealer and alleged kidnapper Christian Borg has been fined €3,000 over health and safety violations at a construction site he was developing, in which Prime Minister Robert Abela and his wife also held a stake.

In June 2018, Abela and his wife Lydia had signed a deal to purchase a plot of land in Triq il-Karmnu, Żabbar.

That same day, Borg received Planning Authority permission to build nine apartments and garages on that plot of land - despite having no apparent connection to the property at the time.

Borg then acquired the site for €315,000 on 29 November, 2018.

Borg had been granted planning permission to build an apartment and garage complex on the same day that he bought the plot co-owned by the Abelas in Żabbar.

The Abelas later sold their stake to Borg, making a €45,000 profit. Abela had been providing legal advice to both Borg and the Planning Authority at the time the deal took place.

Borg found guilty of health and safety violations

Borg, in his capacity as project supervisor, was prosecuted in 2022 over the failure to comply with occupational health and safety regulations which stipulate the minimum health and safety requirements that must be in place at construction sites.

He was charged after an OHSA site inspection in September 2022, which revealed a number of dangerous health and safety violations. Several balconies had no barriers set up to prevent workers from falling off and workers had to access the site by walking over some narrow wooden planks laid across a ditch.

In addition to this, Borg had not attempted to control access to the construction site. The rear portion of the site was easily accessible to the public and the front gate was a simple wooden plank that could easily be bypassed.

Delivering judgement in the criminal case, Magistrate Rachel Montebello noted that the September 2022 inspection had been the site’s fourth. The risks had already been repeatedly flagged by inspections in July 2020, January 2021 and October 2021.

Finding Borg guilty of the charges, the court fined him €3,000.