A Mqabba quarry owner has been awarded €142,000 in compensation over the collapse of part of a schoolyard in February 2010.
A court found that the collapse had taken place because at design and building stage, rainwater runoff had been directed into a layer of soil which, over time, caused so much pressure on the 10-foot dividing wall that it finally gave way.
Mr Justice Francesco Depasquale ruled that the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools and the Director-General of the Education Department were responsible for the damages suffered by the quarry owner, who lost use of a substantial part of his quarry following the incident.
The collapse took place on Sunday, February 28, 2010, when part of the schoolyard, which also included a five-a-side football pitch, gave way, causing a landslide into the adjacent quarry, nine storeys below.
Innocent Farrugia and his wife Maria told the court that following the collapse they could not operate their quarry in an area of Mqabba known as Tax-Xantin, which they had purchased in 1992. They explained that in 2007, the government has expropriated part of their quarry that had been infilled with rubble, with the intention of enlarging the schoolyard.
He said that after the project had been completed, he had complained that two large pipes with rainwater runoff from the schoolyard were draining water into his quarry, limiting his ability to operate.
Could have had far worse consequences had it been a normal working day
The solution that the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools had found at the time was to turn the pipes and direct them into soil between the playground and the quarry’s retaining wall.
Alex Torpiano, appointed as court expert to analyse the opposing views expressed by the architects representing the two parties, said the flow of water into the soil had caused the retaining wall to give way under the heavy pressure.
Prof. Torpiano rubbished claims by the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools architects that the quarry operations and rock cutting had caused the collapse or that it had been caused by fissures in the rock. The court expert concluded it was the excess pressure caused by the wet soil that led to the collapse.
“The conclusions reached by the court expert are clear and unequivocal – works by the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools, particularly the installation of the two pipes caused the collapse that could have had far worse consequences had it been a normal working day or a school day,” Mr Justice Depasquale ruled in his judgment.
He rejected the foundation’s claims that it was not responsible for the collapse of the divisionary wall.
In calculating the amount of compensation due, the court heard how just over €90,000 was due for the area of the quarry on which the authorities concluded a new supporting wall to be able to rebuild the school playground, €13,000 in expenses incurred by Mr Farrugia and a further €37,500 covering costs to clear the loose material that had slid into the quarry.
The court, therefore, ordered the authorities to pay Mr Farrugia a total of €141,571 in compensation together with court expenses.