Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1446843
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 JANUARY 2022 NEWS The two-storey villa, belonging to Victor Bonavia, was approved just outside the development zone boundary at the edge of Sqaq il-Muzew in 2018. The site currently consists of agricultural land. NICOLE MEILAK AHMED Diriye was hired through layered sub-contracting for solar panel works at a Mar- sa warehouse, when he suffered a fatal workplace accident and died a few days later. Video evidence seen by Malt- aToday shows Diriye was work- ing on the roof of a warehouse building in the Marsa industrial estate a day before the accident. The workplace accident hap- pened at a warehouse belonging to Packprint Ltd. Diriye was in- stalling solar panels on the roof of the warehouse the same week of the accident. While the accident happened at Packprint, and the relevant solar panel services were carried out for the same company, it was not Packprint Ltd that hired Ahmed Diriye. The solar panel works at the Packprint warehouse were sub- contracted to Solar Solutions, one of Malta's leading solar pan- el companies. However, sources close to the police investigation told Malt- aToday the company subcon- tracted the works to a group of solar panel installers. When MaltaToday reached out to Solar Solutions for comment, the company said that it was advised not to comment on the matter given an ongoing magis- terial inquiry. According to the Times of Mal- ta, two men were arrested and interrogated over the accident while police spoke to another three under caution. Police are investigating all five people in connection to the accident. Inspectors from the Occupa- tional Health and Safety Author- ity began their separate investi- gations soon after the accident to establish whether safety pro- tocols were being followed. The magisterial inquiry is be- ing led by Magistrate Leonard Caruana. Several court experts and police officers are assisting. Diriye's family are yet to gain closure on the circumstances of his death, and court procedures have provided little comfort. One of the first obstacles con- cerned Ahmed Diriye's burial. The magistrate allowed for the release of his body for burial ear- ly on in the investigation, but the family never received a copy of the deed confirming this. They tried waiting until the copy reaches their hands, but the day never came. In the end, the family decided to go ahead with the burial, with Diriye put to rest at the Islamic cemetery. The family never received a copy of the deed, but a magiste- rial decree after the burial took place concerning a previous court application on the release of the cadaver. The magistrate reiterated that Ahmed Diriye's body could be released, and ac- knowledged that the body was buried by the family. The prosecution faced anoth- er hiccup after the prosecuting inspector had to be replaced by another inspector during the in- quiry. MaltaToday reached out to the Malta Police Force to un- derstand why the inspector was replaced, but no response was received in time for publication. Ahmed Diriye's fatal accident has proven mysterious for more reasons than one. Questions first arose when Ahmed Diriye went missing during Christmas week, with his friends and flatmates in Malta trying to figure out what happened to him. As is procedure, police waited a few days before issuing a call for his whereabouts. It was on- ly after this call was made public that police realised this missing person was the same unidenti- fied person that succumbed to a fatal workplace accident that same week. Diriye remained unidentified to police and was referred to as 'Mr X' in Surgical Ward 2, where he had been receiving treatment. Hospital sources had told Mal- taToday that Diriye died a cou- ple of days after the accident in the same ward. It was only when Diriye's photo first appeared on news portals and social media, that nurses realised that Mr X was Ahmed Diriye. After connecting the dots, po- lice were able to confirm his identity, finding out that Diriye died after succumbing to his in- juries at Mater Dei Hospital. Nobody knows why Diriye's identity had not been estab- lished after the accident, which was even flagged in a police me- dia release. The mystery is how Diriye re- mained unidentified despite the accident having been flagged to the police and a magisterial in- quiry initiated. nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt Diriye hired by subcontractors before fatal work accident Ahmed Diriye cultural land. While originally the PA's plan- ning commission had refused the application, arguing that de- velopment in the rural area was not justified, the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) chaired by present PA chairman Martin Saliba, ap- proved it as an "end of scheme" development, arguing it would upgrade the area by eliminating a blank party wall. The new application, adding a receded floor and ODZ pool area, was presented by ICI Ltd, a real estate company owned by Keith Attard Portughes, which now owns the whole site. As proposed, the pool area will be landscaped by a number of trees. In the meantime, the PA still has to decide on another appli- cation presented by Bonavia for the construction of a 20sq.m ag- ricultural store, proposed along the new road as a replacement for another room immediately next to the medieval chapel on the land expropriated by Infra- structure Malta. Both the Environmental and Resources Authority, and the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage are objecting to this application. The ERA warned demoli- tion and relocation of the rural structures next to the chapel could increase pressure on new buildings along the new road. The SCH also warned that the chapel is resting on and but- tressed by the room being pro- posed for demolition.