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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MARCH 2024 NEWS Authority fails to stop construction work despite roof collapse in adjacent house THE construction watchdog has not issued a stop works notice for a Qormi construction site despite serious damage to an ad- jacent house. The Building and Construc- tion Authority asked the vic- tim, Charlotte Falzon, to sub- mit an architect's report of the damage before it could issue a stop notice. Talking to MaltaToday, Falzon recounted how last De- cember her daughter called her up to inform her that part of the roof at her Qormi home had collapsed. It was a shocking scene for Charlotte to find that part of the roof of a room at the back side of her property had caved in. The backside of Charlotte's house abuts onto a plot of land where construction work was taking place. Charlotte says she asked the architect in charge of the con- struction works to ensure that her side of the building is also insured since it transpired that the insurance cover taken out by the developer only covered two sides of the site and not hers. "Obviously the insurance never arrived," Charlotte says as she shows us the room full of building debris from the ceiling. She warns us that it is unsafe to go in. Charlotte adds that when she contacted the BCA, the author- ity asked her to submit an ar- chitect's report so that a stop works notice could be issued. Unfortunately, due to health problems, she could not com- mit herself at the time, and in- stead tried to settle the issue with the developer since she only asked for her roof to be fixed. "I'm not asking for anything out of the ordinary," she says. "Thank God, no one died, be- cause if they did, we would definitely be speaking differ- ently right now." Charlotte mentions the tragedies Malta has recently seen because of the construction sector. "No one ever learns," she says with frustration in her voice. She took to Facebook to ex- press her anger at the situation in the same week as the publi- cation of the public inquiry in- to the death of Jean Paul Sofia, who died in a construction site in 2022. The report had found serious failings in several government entities tasked with regulating the construction sector, in- cluding the BCA. The public inquiry board had noted that third parties are not direct- ly informed of construction works next to their homes. The inquiry said the only way one could know about adja- cent construction works is by checking the BCA website. The BCA's vetting of method statements was also criticised, with the board noting that, "the current procedure does not guarantee serious scrutiny and is not transparent." Asked for its reaction, the BCA insists it had investigat- ed the damages in December 2023, and the developer's ar- chitect had handed the author- ity a report. But when MaltaToday shows Charlotte the BCA's reply, she exclaims that this is news to her. "I am lost for words be- cause despite being the only one to suffer damages, the BCA has not even informed me of the developer's report," she says. MaltaToday also contact- ed the site manager in charge of the construction site, who confirmed that the works are ongoing and will not stop, as no authority had told them to cease the works. MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt PHOTOS: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTATODAY