Excavation at Sliema hotel development, in defiance of stop works notice

Updated 1.24pm with BCA statement below

Construction workers subcontracted to property magnate Carlo Stivala have been filmed working on a controversial Sliema hotel development the same morning a stop work order was issued by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).

The stop work notice was issued on Tuesday, when the BCA ordered workers to “immediately cease any form of development or other works on the site”, one of two Stivala tower block hotels being built within metres of each other on the seafront.

But aerial footage of the development on the corner of Triq San Vincenz - shot the same morning and shared with Times of Malta - shows heavy machinery excavating the site. Stivala declined to comment.

The stop works order was issued the day after Times of Malta sent questions to the authority following residents’ complaints that excavation works were ongoing, despite a February application for the excavation works not yet being approved.

At least one resident reported the excavation works to the authority a week ago. The BCA replied that “all necessary clearances and relevant documentation have been submitted”, according to correspondence seen by Times of Malta.

The authority told Times of Malta the stop works notice was issued “with immediate effect” following a visit to the site in response to the report.

The resident had complained to the BCA that the “illegal” works were underway despite a lack of permit or geological survey of the site, “in spite of the fact that the site has been constantly flooding with seawater”. Water is evident in the footage taken Tuesday.

The pending February permit application also seeks to sanction the demolition of the building’s facade – which Stivala had committed to retaining in earlier plans.

No valid excavation permits

Meanwhile, a closer look at Planning Authority (PA) documents for the site, which has multiple planning applications dating back to 2018, suggests it is currently without any valid permit covering the excavation or works above nine floors.

A previously approved permit for a 2023 application (PA/02965/23) to develop the former Labour Party club into a 14-storey three-star hotel was quashed by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal in January, pending revised plans for the development.

The tribunal asked developers to file new plans removing previously approved roof structures and setting back the 12th, 13th and 14th floors by almost seven metres, while instructing the PA to reissue the permit within 30 days of receipt of the new plans.

But at the time of publication, no new plans had been submitted to the Planning Authority website, suggesting the 2023 permit is currently invalid.

The development is just metres away from a second, towering hotel development by Carlo Stivala. File photo.

An approved 2018 planning application – filed by Stivala’s brother and fellow property developer, Michael – for a nine-storey apartment block does not include excavation works, while an application the following year to convert the development into an office block was later withdrawn.

The stop works notice covers both the February and the 2023 planning applications.

‘Blatant slap in the face’

In a statement addressing the facade’s demolition, the Sliema Residents Association described it as the “total collapse of the planning process and a blatant slap in the face to the rule of law”, with Stivala “steamrolling” over the PA, cultural heritage authorities and local community.

“The Sliema Residents Association is making it unequivocally clear that we will not accept a system where developers can simply pay to demolish our history”, the organisation said while demanding the PA reject the February application and order the facade rebuilt.

The association also called for a Kamra tal-Periti (KTP) investigation into the architecture firm responsible for the project, Falzon & Cutajar. The company declined to comment.

Stivala’s activities in Sliema have attracted significant opposition from residents and heritage NGOs; more than a total 1,350 objections were registered to the Triq San Vincenz site and another hotel development metres away on parallel Triq il-Lunzjata.

This is also not the first time Stivala has acted in anticipation of a permit; while the 2023 application was still pending, the property mogul installed a large crane on Triq San Vincenz without a permit, blocking the street. He was fined just €1,500.

The two pencil-style buildings earmarked for the bottom of the street have faced heavy criticism, with many saying they will disfigure an old part of The Strand, with the structures towering over neighbouring buildings and ruining the views of Valletta for hundreds of neighbours. 

BCA says it authorised limited remedial works, no additional works were undertaken

In a reaction to the above report, the BCA said on Wednesday that it had verified the published footage. It said that the works carried out yesterday took place at a time when it had authorised limited remedial works. "The Authority subsequently ensured that no additional works were undertaken."

BCA inspectors visited the site on several occasions following the report, and no further works were observed.

It said that any suspected illegality or infringement related to construction can be reported through the helpline 138.