Michael Stivala Says It Won’t Cost More Than €150 To Fix Gaping Hole In Sliema Property
Malta Development Association President Michael Stivala said it shouldn’t cost more than €150 to fix a gaping hole in the neighbouring property to his Sliema construction site.
Stivala’s ST Group has been ordered by the authorities to halt construction works until all damages caused to the nearby property have been fixed. He said he is complying with the order.
He reiterated his claim that there were illegalities in the neighbouring property and said he had assumed the neighbouring wall was actually the supporting wall of his own property.
“Before we began the works, we carried out several inspections in all neighbouring properties adjacent to our hotel, including the penthouse that was built a few years ago on the building that had long been owned by the Farrugia family. One of the meetings was also attended by the Farrugia family’s architect,” he said.
“During the inspections, we were never informed that a wall had been built illegally on our property.”
“As soon as we began works on our side, we started to remove the surface layer from what we believed and assumed was the supporting wall forming part of our property.”
“Instead, we found that this was a wall which the neighbours had illegally built to extend their penthouse into our property without notifying us. “
“As a result, unfortunately, the works caused minor damage in the form of a hole in the wall, which does not amount to more than €150 in expenses.”
“We immediately halted works and requested permission from the authorities to repair the damage. The authorities requested several documents, including a method statement, before we could re-enter the site.”
“In the meantime, we began discussions with the neighbours and have written confirmation from their architect that the building extended into our property and that we had never been informed about it. I would like to assure that at no point was there any danger to workers or to the neighbours.”
Meanwhile, Kamra tal-Periti President Andre Pizzuto confirmed with Lovin Malta that the KTP council has decided to launch an investigation into whether there were any professional shortcomings at both the Sliema construction site and the neighbouring property.
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