The 67-year-old woman who was taken to hospital in a coma last month after she fell and hit her head on a pavement where works are being carried out on the Cospicua Dock 1 project succumbed to her injuries over the weekend.

The woman, a Cospicua resident, was on her way to the nearby polyclinic when she fell and suffered an internal haemorrhage.

Last week, the site was declared unsafe by the health and safety authority after several accidents were reported.

A few days after she was hospitalised, the accident of the 67-year-old woman triggered a political spat between the government and the opposition over the manner in which the works on the Dock 1 project along the Cospicua seafront are being carried out.

The Labour Party strongly blamed the government for causing inconveniences to Cottonera residents for stopping the Dock Number 1 project half way through completion, after 19 years of promises that the project will materialise.

The government’s sheer incompetence is behind the stalling of the project, Silvio Parnis, Labour’s spokesman for sustainable development of the southern harbour area, said.

The PL said that both Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Minister Austin Gatt visited the site and ongoing construction works a few weeks ago for ‘propaganda purposes’ and to promote sustainable development in the southern harbour area, but both failed to explain why the works have since stopped and why the area was left in a disastrous state.

The government later denied that the works, which are expected to be completed by April 2012 at a cost of €7.5million, have stalled.

Last week, another Labour MP, Stefan Buontempo, appealed to the government to increase its safety measures in and around the area where the works are taking place.

He said the lack of lighting and safety boundaries around the construction sights have caused a number of accidents besides the fall of the elderly woman, with Cospicua mayor Joe Scerri commenting that the elderly were suffering greatly because of the government’s lack of planning for the area.

With the scholastic and rainy season round the corner, Mr Scerri warned of chaotic situations arising should the site remain as unprotected as it is right now.