The construction of a boutique hotel in Valletta has caused damages to an adjacent house belonging to a 96-year-old woman, but the contractor has so far ignored complaints.
Offices situated at 53A, 54, 55 and 56 Old Theatre Street Valletta are being turned into a three-star hotel. The project includes the demolition of the existing building as well as internal and external alterations. The permit from MEPA was granted in January 2015.
The Malta Independent visited the house of the 96-year-old, seeing the damages caused to four rooms situated on the second and third floor of the house. A number of wall cracks and fissures are evident on the walls of both sides of the building. On the third floor, a large picture frame ended up on the floor.
The woman, who has been living in the house for 64 years, explained how a few weeks ago, stone slabs fell on her bed during the night, so much so that she had to move downstairs to sleep. “They have been working on the site for months and the noise doesn’t even allow you to speak. Not to mention the weeks they spent working during the night…thankfully other residents reported it and that stopped. But the damage to my house is still being done, but they do not seem to care,” she said.
“We have spoken to the contractors on site, but it seems that complaints will be completely ignored until the time they would cause injuries to the otherwise a senior lady trying to live peacefully in her home. The acts are inherently dangerous and done with reckless disregard for human life,” the son of the resident said.
The matter has been reported to the building regulation office within the ministry for infrastructure, and a representative has inspected the damages caused. The resident also contacted owner of the site Teddy Calleja as well as the architect, Ian Cutajar, but no one replied. The resident has also filed a report with the police and is expected to take legal action.
Architect Ian Cutajar from Falzon & Cutajar Architects and Civil Engineers, said that except the time when a stone block fell into the elderly lady's property after it became dislodged, the alleged ‘accidents’ are to be expected during works involving the rehabilitation of existing structures.