Malta’s construction giants have gone head to head following the Birkirkara demolition mayhem after the Polidano Brothers refuted a statement by Joseph Portelli’s company Excel Limited.

Following an eyebrow-raising demolition on a site that saw huge boulders fall into Triq Psaila, Excel Limited said they will cut ties with the contractor, accusing them of being “careless and reckless” in the execution of the works.

Excel Limited went on to blame them for failing to follow the method statement prepared by Maria Schembri Grima, former chair of the Building Authority, who has now resigned due to the incident.

However, the Polidanos countered their blame, insisting that they always “acted in accordance with the instructions of the developer (Portelli) as well as their architect and site technical officer who were appointed to supervise and monitor all aspects of the project”.

“Polidano will not accept a situation whereby the developer seeks to shirk their legal and moral responsibilities and shift blame onto a sub-contractor when they themselves were duty-bound to oversee the project and intervene if any actions were not being carried out according to their instruction,” Polidano General Manager Ian Napier said.

Napier added that Polidano will review its relationship with Portelli following the incident while calling the €5,000 fine imposed by the BCA “both unjustified and unwarranted”.

Excel Limited and the site technical officer were fined €3,150 and €2,000 respectively.

What do you make of the situation?