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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2014 3 News Architecture firm director didn't know about inferior Mater Dei concrete Malta ready to co-host high-level conference on Libya MIRIAM DALLI ONE of the founding partners at Cassar Grech Ebejer (CGE), an ar- chitectural firm involved in the building of Mater Dei Hospital, has expressed surprise over a series of test results confirming that con- crete used on a number of struc- tures on floors 8 and 9 was of infe- rior quality. "I don't know what methodology was used to test [the samples] and I cannot say whether the proper pro- cedure was followed. Consequently, all I can say is that when we became the project's architects, every truck filled with concrete that came in at the hospital was tested. "Cubes were tested and concrete, if found to be of inferior quality, was broken up and thrown away," Mario Grech, director at CGE, told Malta- Today. CGE also specialises in civil engi- neering. Forming part of the Skanska consortium that won the tender to construct the then San Raffaele research hospital, as Mater Dei was first intended to be, CGE took over the architectural side of the project in 2000. The first architects to work on the construction of the new hos- pital were England & England. "We were directly called in by Skanska in 2000/01 and construc- tion work continued," Grech said. He was not aware as to why the pre- vious architects stopped working on the project. Grech said that when CGE took over, floor 8 had already been built. They continued working on floor 9, which had been partially built, ex- tending the hospital's footprint. "Inspections were continuously carried out by our structural engi- neer and, based on those inspec- tions, we would move ahead," Grech said. According to Grech, Skanska, the Swedish firm tasked with designing and constructing the hospital, had a quality assurance plan that was fol- lowed rigorously and thoroughly. "Every truck [filled with concrete] that came in was tested… once we even broke down seven pillars be- cause they were not up to standard. There was a supervisory staff tasked with inspecting every area." Asked whether he knew who the Maltese sub-contractors who sup- plied the concrete were, Grech said CGE was not involved in the "pro- curement" side of things, and there- fore he did not know. Insisting that the alleged quality inferiority in concrete used was not a design issue, Grech said the expe- rienced supervisory staff knew ex- actly what it was doing. The problematic concrete pillars, built in early 1996, are mostly situ- ated on the eighth f loor. Giving rise to suspicion of something under- hand is the fact that not all pillars were built with concrete of inferior quality. It appears that results of stress tests carried out on various sam- ples showed that these were not ho- mogeneous: some came back with a C30 result while others came back with levels as low as C10. Other sections of the media reported that pavement concrete was stronger compared to this concrete. "I find such results surprising, especially since there are no visible cracks or other structural defects. The building itself would show if any defective work was carried out. The department itself has with- stood the test of time. In my expe- rienced eye, I find it very strange," he insisted. The government, which will be engaging a UK company to analyse the A&E department structure and conduct a site survey of Mater Dei Hospital, has already put in place temporary mitigation measures, such as vertical supports. A police investigation and a sepa- rate inquiry ordered by the gov- ernment are currently underway. Parliament's permanent health committee, on the Opposition's re- quest, will be analysing the issue as well. CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 But Vella did not rule out the con- ference completely, saying that "eve- rything is possible" and Malta would be more than happy to co-host such a conference. Moreover, the report said that the British ambassador, Michael Aron and David Cameron's special envoy, Jonathan Powell "have also with- drawn to the island." MaltaToday can confirm that Powell and Aron were in Malta last week to hold a number of meetings but the UK ambassador to Libya is currently based in Tunis. Vella confirmed that he had lengthy meetings with Jones and special envoy Powell last week and said that all parties "shared a lot of common ground" in addressing the Libyan crisis. The Libyan capital, currently oc- cupied by the Islamist-led Libya Dawn, is suffering power and water cuts and this week Human Rights Watch reported a series of house- burnings and attacks on ethnic mi- norities and journalists across the capital. Islamist-allied militias led by the Misrata clan have cemented their control in Tripoli after the worst spell of violence since rebels ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. On Tuesday, French defence min- ister Jean-Yves Le Drian said "we must act in Libya and mobilise the international community," adding that France could move troops it has from nearby countries towards the Libyan border. Following the Misrata coalition's takeover of Tripoli from the govern- ment-supported Zintani militias, Libya has two parliaments, two gov- ernments and two prime ministers. The fighting began after the June elections, in which Islamist candi- dates lost the majority they held in the previous parliament, and ren- egade general Khalifa Hifter began a military campaign against Islam- ist-allied militias in Libya's second- largest city, Benghazi. Meanwhile, fighters from the western region of Zintan and Misra- ta to the east of Tripoli, former allies during the NATO-backed campaign to oust Gaddafi, fell out and turned parts of Tripoli into a battlefield. In late August, Libya's former parliament, the General National Con- gress (GNC), appointed a new prime minister in a move which deepened the country's political division, as warring fac- tions vie for control of the oil-rich nation. The GNC reconvened in Tripoli and elected Islamist-backed Omar al-Hassi as prime min- ister, in an attempt to replace the House of Representatives which was elected in June, ef- fectively ending the po- litical dominance that factions linked to the Muslim Brotherhood had in the previous leg- islature. However, Malta and the rest of the international community recognise the House of Representatives as the legitimate Libyan parliament. This week, a Greek car ferry was hired as a last-minute base for Lib- ya's embattled parliament, which fled the country's civil war to the small eastern town of Tobruk, scene of a pivotal battle in World War II. Yesterday, Prime Minister Ab- dullah Al-Thinni, President of the House of Representatives Ageela Saleh and the Chief of Staff, Major- General Abdulrazzak Nazhuri, jet- ted out to the United Arab Emirates to explore ways the Emirates can support Libya in the present crisis. Last month, the Pentagon said the UAE and Egypt were behind the air strikes against Libya Dawn in Tripoli, creating more tensions in the region. Qatar and the United Arab Emir- ates, the big Gulf players, have each taken a side, Qatar for the Islamists, the Emiratis for the nationalists, in- creasing the tension in the volatile region. Al-Thinni, who has been entrust- ed with forming a new government, has an arduous task ahead of him, given the difficulties in uniting the country against the Islamist-led coalition. Although the Islamists are not the biggest faction in Libya they are united and better organised. On the other hand, the various tribes op- posed to them are fractured along historic fault lines, some dating back centuries. Uniting these tribes and persuad- ing Islamist factions to end their boycott of the HoR is likely to de- termine whether Al-Thinni can lead the country out of the chaos and be- come a vibrant democracy. Construction on Mater Dei hospital began in 1996 Samples from the concrete pillars at the emergancy department showed that the concrete used was of inferior quality The Greek ferry boat housing the Libyan House of Representatives in Tobruk