Corradino collapse company was tasked with repair works on government housing

The company responsible for the Corradino construction site where Jean Paul Sofia died, carried out structural and repair works on government housing buildings between 2014 and 2021. 

Whitefrost Co Ltd, owned solely by developer Matthew Schembri, was awarded two tenders in 2018 to carry out upgrading works and repairs at the Ta’ Giorni government housing estate in St Julian’s. 

One of these tenders was originally valued at €197,335 but was later revised up to €221,395 through a variation. 

The company was also tasked with rendering and decoration works of facades at Binja Msieraħ in Mtarfa in a separate tender.  

These three tenders alone saw Whitefrost Co Ltd receive €328,579 for the works. 

The company was also awarded another tender in 2018 for emergency dangerous structure removal and support works in government tenements. The tender was valued at €83,536. 

Meanwhile, almost every year between 2015 and 2021, Whitefrost Co Ltd was awarded a framework agreement for the execution of responsive structural and other repair works in government tenements.  

Whitefrost was also awarded a framework agreement in November 2021 for the execution of structural and other repair works in government properties in various localities across Malta and Gozo. 

A magisterial inquiry into the Corradino building collapse that killed 20-year-old Jean Paul Sofia in December 2022, concluded that bad workmanship resulted in several serious structural shortcomings that contributed to the collapse. 

The magisterial inquiry findings have raised eyebrows as to the quality of workmanship on other jobs in which the company may have been involved, not least those involving government housing. 

Jean Paul Sofia died when the factory still under construction at the Corradino industrial estate collapsed. A magisterial inquiry found serious structural shortcomings that contributed to the tragedy.

The Housing Authority told MaltaToday that it has not awarded any tenders to Whitefrost Co Ltd between 2022 and 2023 and the company is not listed in the current framework agreement of the Housing Authority. 

“All projects commissioned by the Housing Authority are subject to stringent health and safety standards and monitoring by a competent team of architects who certify all of our projects before they are signed off and processed for payment,” a spokesperson said. 

Matthew Schembri, in his personal capacity as director of Whitefrost Co Ltd, was charged together with four others on 23 July with the involuntary homicide of Jean Paul Sofia. 

The other people charged include Schembri’s business partner Kurt Buhagiar as director of Allplus Limited, Milomir Jovicevic and Dijana Jovicevic as directors of Milmar Construction Ltd, and the site’s architect Adriana Zammit. 

Schembri alone was also charged with forgery of an authentic public or commercial document. He allegedly falsified someone’s signature on the Commencement Notice at the building site; knowingly giving false information (the Commencement Notice) to a public authority in order to obtain an advantage or benefit for himself or someone else; and making a second falsification or use of another falsified Commencement Notice.  

His brushes with the law did not start with the Kordin collapse. In 2021, Schembri was found guilty of failing to safeguard health and safety on a construction site in Triq Ġorġ Borg, Qormi.  

The Occuptational Health and Safety Authority had carried out an inspection on site and found that some of the balconies on the facade did not have a railing as required by law. 

Schembri paid a €1,500 fine for the shortcoming. 

In 2022, Schembri was also accused of commissioning two men to attack his ex-wife’s father while he was out for a job in Sliema. He was held in custody for several weeks and later granted bail. The case is ongoing.