Works to strengthen Mtarfa housing blocks which had suffered from poor-quality concrete have now been completed, the Ministry of Social Accommodation said.

The blocks form part of Binja Buqana in Mtarfa, built by the government between 1992 and 1994.

Eighty families live there, with many of the apartments having been sold by the government before the defects were found.

Housing Minister Roderick Galdes said in a statement that the Housing Authority was not legally obliged to carry out the repairs, but felt a moral duty to do so.

A study in 2015 had shown that the building could no longer be considered safe.

"We found a faulty structure that had water leaking down to the lower floors, blockages, and severe deterioration of the building’s structural framework,” Galdes said.

The repairs cost €2.9 million.

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