I am writing to highlight the current, unjust lacuna in MEPA’s responsibilities and to draw attention to the failure of the Maltese Government to protect and safeguard its citizens from life-threatening and unfair development by unscrupulous construction companies and their associated architects.

My family resides at 7, St Vincent Street, the Strand, Sliema, in an historic edifice that dates back to the late 1800s as can be ascertained in dated photographic evidence.

In late 2009 developers applied to remove the existing third floor level and construct five apartments on top of parts of our property, without declaring that a good part of the site falls within the urban conservation area.

Following a much earlier renovation of a shop (Anastasi Brothers), situated beneath the property at no. 7 St. Vincent Street, involving the removal of supporting internal walls, several serious fissures in the walls of our house developed. These were the result of settlement in the stone masonry, due to the elimination of these walls. In time, more cracks have appeared ruining kitchen and bathroom tiles, whilst the original fissures have deepened.

The existing load-bearing structure, transferring load to the foundations, is old, and was originally not intended to support additional extra loads, especially not five new floors. Furthermore no records or data on the state of the foundations of the existing old structure and the underlying soil are available. This was confirmed in an independent architect’s report.

When my family objected to this development on the grounds of structural instability, MEPA informed us that it is only concerned with issuing planning permissions and will not even consider whether it is safe to build over an existing property. We were told that if we had any concerns about safety, then it would be up to us to take the contractors to court, a lengthy and expensive procedure. So what happens if home owners do not have the financial means to do so?

Local construction history has already been the case of residents’ deaths as a result of developers’ negligence and the continued failure, on the part of the Government, to protect its citizens. Despite these tragedies, no local regulating body exists to prevent them. In my opinion, this is outrageous.

This planning application has been refused, NOT for urgent reasons of safety which should be the first priority but on technicalities. Were it not for the conscientiousness of the members of the Environment Planning Commission (EPC) and the ongoing, voluntary support of Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, this application would certainly have gone through upon initial submission. Still, the developers have not given up on this fatally flawed project; an appeal has been lodged and a hearing is to be held this Thursday. 

Is it not enough that elderly residents will have to be put through years of dust, noise pollution, parking problems, diminished light and respiratory ailments, including my mother’s recurrent bouts of pneumonia? Must our very lives be endangered? More to the point, is ruthless financial gain the only currency in this country? Sliema has been raped of its architectural heritage. How have many of its beautiful old buildings, many within the UCA, been torn down?  Don’t tourists come to see what is different from their country? The uglification of Sliema is an ongoing corrupt tragedy. It seems to me more than ever that the construction industry is the white Maltese Mafia and politicians their playthings.

■ Warren Bugeja

Sliema