Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1428470
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 NOVEMBER 2021 NEWS Turkish company disappears from Malta with countless creditors Court proceedings underway to declare Turkish company that provided construction workers insolvent, 16 companies seek to recoup unpaid dues NICOLE MEILAK DRILLING company Terra- core is the latest Maltese com- pany to bring court proceed- ings calling for the winding up of the Turkish construction firm Taca, whose workers were imported to the Fortina con- struction site and a host of ma- jor roadworks. Taca entered the eye of the storm in June 2020 when a group of 80 Turkish builders supplied to the Fortina con- struction project in Sliema went on strike over unpaid sal- aries. But it was not just these workers who failed to receive payment from the Turkish company. Terracore's court application shows that 16 oth- er companies have sued the company to recoup thousands owed by TACA. Among them is construction giant Polidano Bros which en- tered into a supply agreement for materials and other servic- es in relation to the Tigné sea- front project in January 2019. The company said it had not been paid its total €520,000 in services rendered. The DB Group and James Ca- terers were also seeking redress in court through their consor- tium Malta Healthcare Cater- ers, which was tasked with a mega-extension of the St Vin- cent de Paul hospital. In Terracore's case, the com- pany entered into a sub-con- tracting agreement for the For- tina Hotel project, for water removal, digging, and grouting services. €141,897 due to them by Taca remains pending. Terracore's lawyers com- plained that Taca has no prop- erty in Malta and seems to have "completely abandoned its presence in this jurisdic- tion, leaving behind a number of creditors, including the ap- plicant, without any hope of repayment." Terracore requested the ap- pointment of an administrator to handle the company's affairs and pay back its creditors. The Turkish company's fi- nancial woes in Malta data back to 11 May 2020, when the first precautionary warrant was issued by Siderpre Processing Ltd. A number of other war- rants followed, and nothing was deposited by way of secu- rity. A month later, Taca workers went on strike after the compa- ny failed to pay its employees. Taca Construction was set up as an overseas company with the help of Ganado Advocates in September 2018. With its home base in Turkey's capi- tal Ankara, the firm is in fact massive, having entered into contracts with multiple local developers. Taca was first rumoured to be set to provide 2,500 Turk- ish construction workers on various projects, but the firm's efforts were directed at provid- ing 500 workers for the Forti- na's redevelopment, and the DB City Centre project in Pem- broke. When the Taca workers went on strike in Sliema, the Forti- na Group insisted that all fi- nancial obligations to Taca had been honoured, at times even paying suppliers directly on their behalf to keep things moving on site. nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt Taca entered the eye of the storm in June 2020 when a group of 80 Turkish builders supplied to the Fortina construction project in Sliema went on strike over unpaid salaries Valley Road reservoir could become football pitch JAMES DEBONO ONE of the last patches of green- ery along Valley Road in Msida is under threat after government agency Sports Malta presented plans for the construction of an 11-a-side football ground in- stead of the 1,861sq.m reservoir, which has surrounding greenery and farmland and a small car park. The football pitch, which will include a bar and cafeteria as well as changing rooms and other fa- cilities, will occupy a 5,900sq.m footprint on a 7,719sq.m site. The plans which spill over on agricultural land behind the res- ervoir, with a smaller 470sq.m reservoir built. While the large trees facing the road will be retained and new trees will be planted, a number of existing trees and shrubs will be uprooted. The Environment and Re- sources Authority has already objected to the plans, warning that these will result in the take- up of undeveloped rural land outside development zones, and in greater noise and light pollu- tion. The ERA said the proposal was directly adjacent to a busy main road and within the Msida valley system, which is prone to flooding. Valley Road is already facing a number of environmental threats. The Planning Authori- ty recently turned down an ap- plication by the Infrastructure Ministry for the construction of a parking area instead of an an- other soakaway reservoir along the same road. The ERA also expressed con- cern on the uptake of 480sq.m of a Valley Road field, adjacent to the proposed football ground currently used for agriculture to accommodate the proposed fly- over in Msida. Plans were also submitted for the development of 13, five-sto- rey blocks on an 18,750sq.m site of terraced fields and trees set between Valley Road – behind the Charles Grech outlet – and Triq Indri Grima in Swatar. The land was added to development zones in the infamous exten- sion of boundaries carried out in 2006. A year ago, another private de- veloper had proposed an 11-sto- rey commercial project next to a public staircase in one of the last remnants of the valley. The application was later suspended after objections by the Superin- tendence for Cultural heritage, ERA and the Msida and Santa Venera local councils. A government agency has proposed a football ground on one of the last remnants of Msida valley