From Ing. F. Stivala B.Eng.(Hons.), MIFireE, Eur Ing

I appreciate that this letter may be somewhat long, but the research, the numerous phone calls and the expense and traumas my neighbours and my family have been going through warrants a detailed report of the facts based on our observations and findings.

Our unlucky experiences started some years ago, but recent rainstorms have made things seriously worse and an imminent road collapse, similar to that reported this week in the newspapers to Triq il-Pont in Santa Maria Estate, or to that in Xemxija (where Polidano is still pulling everybody’s leg), will not only result in hefty damages to several residences, but worse still, may endanger our lives, as well as that of any workmen using our street.

It is therefore my request that those people who have some responsibility due to their profession, position and role should read this with attention. It is my request that same people provide us with answers and most importantly take the necessary actions, before a disaster takes place.

I assure readers that the content of this report is not biased by the fact that I am one of the residents directly affected by the partial collapse of Triq ta’ Taht l-Irdum. My profession guarantees the truthfulness of the contents of my report.

I am a mechanical engineer, specialised in Building Services, Fire & Safety Consultancy and have in excess of 13 years’ experience. I am a recognised and listed court expert in these fields, and also carry out risk assessment, as well as fire and safety reports for both MEPA and MRA.

I have worked for both the government and the private sector on Malta’s largest projects. My warrant number is 473 and I am duty bound by an oath I took in front of the Engineering Board / Government of Malta when I was awarded my warrant.

Among many responsibilities, the oath makes me legally responsible to assess and inform entities in order to prevent danger to citizens and damage to country and government property, as well as safeguard the environment.

Thus, I challenge any of the readers to find any error or untrue fact in the following.

Background information

I refer to the recent rainstorms (end December 2007), which resulted in a serious subsidence of Triq ta’ Taht l-Irdum, in the section which runs from in front of plot 313 to 316.

Here, the road (a narrow, dead-end road) has plots with bungalows built on either side. The road runs roughly along a north-south axis, with low-lying plots on the west, and high lying plots on the east of the road.

Practically all houses built on the west low-lying plots have retaining walls to “hold-up” the road. The only exception is the section in front of plots 314 and 315, where a plot is still being developed.

On 18 September 2006, I reported that this side of the road was being damaged due to the lack of retaining walls in the underlying plot, where vast excavation and material removal works have been going on for several years.

The road had several deep cracks in its surface, and the pavement was broken and caved-in. Every time it rained the situation got worse due to the water percolating into the asphalt cracks and through the poor sub-grade and old road build-up, which eventually resulted in subsidence.

The rain found its way out through the exposed side of the road, which is 1 ½ storey high above the said plot. To make matters worse, a natural watercourse runs transversally, several metres “under” the road, from the upper-lying plots, directly into said plot. The excavations revealed vast areas of blue clay, and the water from the spring collects in the plot.

The clay forms an impermeable basin, but no adequate adjustments to the watercourse have been made to convey the water into Triq in-Nixxiegha and hence into Ghajn Zejtuna valley.

Thus the “mud lakes” are damaging the adjacent structures, besides proving an attraction and breeding ground for mosquitoes, other insects and rodents.

It was during this time that I had started noticing cracks in my property (in plot 315), which is situated exactly opposite the said plot under construction. I had been living here for four years, without any signs of damage to my property.

Coincidentally, all my neighbours and the ones situated on either side of said plot have been suffering serious damage to their properties.

The owner of this plot is John Caruana, and his architects are Bezzina & Cole (known to me as a reputable company, as I have worked with them on large projects such as the Intercontinental Hotel and the Mgarr Ferry Terminal).

At the time, I had approached both Mr Caruana and Architect Adrian Mifsud of Bezzina & Cole.

In a meeting held with Perit Mifsud, I learnt to my amazement, that architects are really held responsible at law for a number of years after a structure is erected.

While I am more than sure that Bezzina & Cole have designed a fantastic structure, I am also sure that supervision of such a delicate and complex stage (excavating through rubble and clay in the presence of large volumes of running spring water, drilling piles, steel works, concreting, erection of retaining walls) was lacking.

I do not believe this is any fault of the architects, but may be due to the un-coordinated works carried out on site.

On the other hand, if the owner of the plot, who also happens to be the contractor, cannot be guided or controlled, then why take responsibility for the dubious construction? As far as I know Mr Caruana works for a bank. Does he also have a builder’s licence? Has MEPA checked this? He apparently is also a qualified steel welder and pile digger! Do the architects feel comfortable about the quality of the workmanship? Perit Mifsud is no longer employed with Bezzina & Cole, and I do not know who the architect responsible is now.

In the recent past, we have had to endure long days of drilling and excavation from dawn till 10pm day in day out, including Sundays. Our road had been closed days on end by cranes and trucks, with only foot access to our house, except after 10pm! Since when does the local warden / local council allow such work that denies residents vehicular access to their homes?

There was an instance in summer when I had a party for 30 people at my house that had been planned for weeks. The outcome was disastrous due to the blocked road and the construction noise that went on till after 10pm.

On other occasions the road had been littered with concrete from the ready-mix trucks, and my boundary wall was knocked twice. When I asked for it to be repaired, an absent-minded “yes, yes, yes... then we will fix it” is all I got. My house, garden and swimming pool (as well as those of all neighbours) have been covered in construction dust for long periods.

We have not seen any more work carried out for some months now, except for concrete blocks being shifted from one side to another once in a while.

It must be noted that as much as it is Mr Caruana’s interest to conclude his epic project, it is ours too. The closure of the gaping hole he excavated and the erection of a MEPA and CENMED approved structure should improve retention of our road, diminish the damage to our houses, and stop the disturbances we have had to put up with for so long.

In October and November 2007 the cracks started to get worse. Readers may check with past weather reports that October and November have been particularly rainy and windy. In November I reported to the Mellieha Local Council (I spoke to the secretary, Mr Debono) that the pavement surface was all shattered and the two/three course boundary wall overlooking the said plot below was leaning over in a precarious way. I demanded that the local council see to this, as the situation could only get worse as the rains continued.

An architect armed with a digital camera was fielded to site, and as I happened to be out collecting my post, I had a chat with him. He did not seem particularly worried, and found comfort in stating that there was a retaining wall in the plot under construction. I demanded that (as I had done with local council secretary) I would be copied with a report. No reports have been received to date!

At this point I wish to ask any of the readers who are also architects by profession to kindly visit said site, and assess for oneself this retaining wall, and the present function it is supposed to perform. I am beginning to doubt some of the laws of physics I was made to learn at school! On your viewing, please observe whether there are any straight lines, along any of the axes x, y and z of such structure (Hagar Qim is built better than that!); and whether the substantial distance from the exposed side of our road to this unfinished masterpiece makes any sense in the way of supporting same road.

During the last week of December 2007 there was a heavy rainstorm. Now I must say I was not in Malta at that time, but I was in contact with my neighbours, who informed me that the road had subsided exactly in front of my gate, and that on my return I would have to be careful since access to my house is now difficult, apart from dangerous.

The Police had been called and, quite impressively, were on site within minutes. Barricades, warning tape and battery operated safety flash lights were rigged up, MEPA Enforcement section was called and an A4 notice was fixed to the wall asking “the plot owner” to contact 2290 0000 Mario Pandolfino, Enforcement Officer 2, Green Leader!

While abroad, I called the local council again to inform them that (a) no reports had been copied to me, (b) no actions had been taken, and (c) the road had now actually subsided, and any minute might collapse, tearing away the Enemalta 3-phase buried cable, as well as the drainage, potable water pipes, telephone and cable TV cables running through our roads. (d) We, the residents, are in danger, since we drive through this narrow road, half of which is un-usable now. (e) Our houses are suffering damages and (f) people who provide a service, such as the gas distributor, the garbage collector sand the postman are at risk too.

The secretary very calmly responded that he had done his part by sending the architect, and reporting it to the ADT. I replied that the road was subsiding and would eventually collapse. I don’t see why my neighbours or I have to face the person responsible for such damage when this road falls under their responsibility. If the road is collapsing due to a third party, then it’s the relevant authority that should supply the remedies, and punish the responsible party.

His statement was that the local council is only responsible for minor re-surfacing jobs and things like “street lighting”. At this point, as my mobile phone call cost was adding up, he took the opportunity to inform me that the local council would soon be putting up some streetlights! However, he recognised that the entity of the damage was so big that it falls beyond their remit!

Great.

I came back to Malta on 2 January. I squatted in the middle of my road, and tried to read a ‘wet-paper’ MEPA notice that was stuck on the second course of an “about-to-topple” 2/3 course boundary wall, of a plot whose only access is from another road, namely Triq in-Nixxiegha. Obviously, Mr Caruana, I could never see such a notice!

Over the past week, my wife and I have been topping our telephone bill by calling ADT and the local council, as well as the Qawra Police station, CENMED and MEPA... and a few other holiday-booze-recovering entities.

On Monday 7 January we spoke to Luke Geniis (ADT customer care), who then spoke to Eric Micallef, who then talked to someone higher up. This pillar to post exercise simply to be told that ADT is only responsible for four arterial roads in Mellieha. All other roads are the local council’s responsibility. It gets even trickier because CENMED now comes into the picture!

Similarly, an efficient and gentle Sergeant Maria Therese Sciberras at the Qawra Police Station advised that we should refer the matter to the local council. She also stated that she could not close off the road because of the residences and construction going on at the far end of the road.

We then contacted Enforcement Officer Mario Pandolfino at MEPA and were told that MEPA has nothing to do with roads. Their concern is that the owner should build a seven-course boundary wall to his building site, that he carries out work without damaging the environment and polluting, and that he does not do any work on Sundays. I’d love to see these enforcements carried out some day!

On 8 January we spoke to local council secretary Carmel Debono, who stated that damage to roads of such grave nature should be seen to by ADT “... the council does not build roads!” he said. “The people at ADT should know the laws (some of them are councillors themselves),” he added.

We also phoned the mayor who said he spoke to the ADT head in charge of road networks, and said that ADT should do something about it.

We then contacted Frances Bergedhal, office manager of Cenmed Ltd who was very attentive to our complaints. She explained that following a court ruling regarding Santa Maria Estate roads maintenance, a contract was soon to be signed whereby these roads would be transferred to the Mellieha local council.

So from what I gather, ADT and MEPA have better things to dedicate their time (and of course their time is more important than ours), CENMED is pleasantly shrugging off responsibilities, the local council insist ADT should see to it, and WE, the tax paying and ground-rent paying citizens stand foolishly in the middle of it all.

Observations and actions required

• I read through DPA Report for case Number PA08119/05 obtained from the MEPA website for the aforementioned plot.

(reference:http://www.mepa.org.mt/@H8a4b795fe9ff1d13d3a152d9caed628f:b=m&tid=ea3878...)

MEPA and CENMED please note that this permit is to build a maximum of one habitable floor, with three underlying basement levels for cars, boats and residential amenities. I wonder if a multi-storey car park is suitable for our estate, but will you really enforce the maximum of one habitable floor just like you did with many of us?

• Enforcement officer stated that a seven-course boundary wall should be built. When? How? How can such a wall be built if the pavement and road are collapsing? If the road had to be miraculously repaired, will MEPA follow this up?

• CENMED: could you please check on infringements?

• Local council: As taxpayers we demand responsible answers on when the road will be re-built. If the damage carries on, there will firstly be a failure of the utility services. There will be cracked and leaking sewers, a broken WSC water main pipe, as well as disrupted services including electricity and telephone; the eventual repair will need time. In the meantime, who will cover the damage to our houses? Who will ensure safe access? Who will cover costs of leave to be taken from our work? Are we second-class citizens?

• OHSA: please note that when trucks of the gas distributor, garbage collector, and so on, travel through the road, the weight of the truck is not helping the situation, and an eventual movement might result in an accident.

• MRA: Please note a natural spring’s watercourse is not being properly preserved. The containment of the natural flow may affect moisture content of underlying clay, and undermine land stability. Please investigate, perhaps through MEPA.

• ADT: Is it possible that this authority does not even intervene to assess the seriousness of the case? I read with laughter, like many hundreds of thousands (close to 400,000) other Maltese citizens, your web page “Manutenzjoni estensiva tat-toroq” (Extensive maintenance of roads). Please Jesmond it’s time to stop these stale jokes. It’s the year 2008, get those lazy workmen to work harder and longer hours, we are paying ample tax money and we deserve some hint of an infrastructure.

I will now wait patiently and see if anybody cares.

Fabio Stivala