Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil said that after looking into charges to be brought against Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech, he believes no action should be taken until the court judgment is handed down.

The MP is among eight facing charges of involuntary homicide of a Latvian man who died when a roof collapsed during the construction of the Seabank hotel in Mellieha. At the time, Dr Zammit Dimech was director of Seabank Hotel and Catering Limited.

In a statement,  Dr Busuttil said that he has decided that no action should be taken by the party against the MP given he was not involved in what happened in any manner whatsoever.

“ Dr Zammit Dimech was a non-Executive Director with no direct or indirect involvement in the running of the company that owns the hotel where building works took place. He does not occupy an executive role in Government. It would have been different if he were a Minister. But he is not. There is therefore no role of responsibility to dismiss him from,” he said in a statement.

He added that the incident was not even remotely connected with Dr Zammit Dimech’s parliamentary and political duties or even with his past ministerial duties and therefore dismissal from the party is not warranted.

“Francis is showing strength and resolve in this difficult time and I stand four-square behind him. I have communicated my decision to the Parliamentary Group which supported it unanimously,” he concluded.

 

In March 2012, two floors of a construction site at Seabank Hotel in Ghadira Bay collapsed. The lifeless body of a 27-year-old Latvian worker was recovered 20 hours after an intensive search. The man was found buried under five metres of compressed material.

In a statement, the Labour Party said that Simon Busuttil took two weeks to say that he will do nothing. The conclusion is simple: Dr Busuttil speaks, but does nothing.