Lawyers defending two of the four men charged with the involuntary homicide of an Albanian construction worker told a court on Friday the defendants did not have the “technical competence” to control the building’s collapse.

Bari Balla, a construction worker and father of six, died in April last year when the roof of a Sliema property on St Ignatius Street, collapsed while he was working underneath it.

His son-in-law, 31-year-old Genti Prodani, who was also working on the site, sustained injuries in the collapse. 

Contractors Kurt Galea, 33, and Anthony James Fisher, 42, as well as the directors of the company that owned the building (Oratorian Capital Ltd) Luca Miceli Demajo, 33, and Samuel Borg, 34, are all being charged with involuntary homicide and safety violations.

All four are pleading not guilty.

Defence lawyers representing Borg and Miceli Demajo argued that the court technical experts’ report excluded the directors' responsibility for the incident.

Lawyer Joe Giglio said the report recommended that the person who has to answer for involuntary homicide comes from the “parte civile”.

From his end, lawyer Charles Mercieca said “there is no proof of fault” from the side of the directors, adding that according to the report, the reason behind the event was the use of a small jigger on the construction site.

He said the report noted how the directors had no “technical competence” to control the accident.

The developer and architect obtained planning permission to add a receded floor and extend existing ones. However, the permit stated no work could start until the period during which objectors could appeal the decision had lapsed. Objectors typically have 30 days to file an appeal against a planning decision.

Both the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA) said they were not notified about the work at the site.

Mercieca was adamant that the fault did not fall on the director and there was nothing to link Demajo and Borg to Balla’s death. He said the lack of notification to the authorities also had nothing to do with the accident.

“Imagine someone is eating at a restaurant and they choke on the food, should the directors of the restaurant be taken to court,” Mercieca asked the court.

The townhouse where the roof collapsed and (inset) the rescue operation that followed.

Balla’s son-in-law did not feel safe on site

Testifying in front of magistrate Ann Marie Thake, Prodani went into detail about what happened before the accident.

With the help of a translator, Prodani said that during a site visit days before the accident, he had told the contractor ‘Tony’ (Fisher) how he did not feel safe on the site as the structure did not feel “strong enough”.

He said he sent pictures to both contractors on April 18 and told them that the site was not secure. He said both Fisher and Galea said the site was okay to work on.

He recalled how on the day of the accident, he took pictures to send to Fisher to show the work that had been done. He said Tony was meant to visit the site but did not show up in the end.

He said he was working with a small jigger and was collecting construction dust in a bucket. At one point he felt “dust” falling on him.

“Two seconds later... I was covered,” he recalled.

“I do not know how I managed to get out as I was injured. When I got out I took pictures of what happened. I was in so much pain, every step I took, I fell,” he said. He provided copies of the photos to the court.

Prodani was taken to the hospital where he said he received a phone call from Fisher telling him that Balla was dead.

Prodani said that was the last phone call he received from the contractors. He said Galea had blocked him from social media.

When asked to describe Balla, he said he was a hard worker and had always worked as a construction worker.

During cross-examination, defence lawyer Stefano Filletti asked Prodani to clarify whether he was using the digger during the time of the incident.

Filletti said during the inquiry, Prodani said he was not using the jigger when the wall fell.

Prodani confirmed he had the jigger in his hands when the ceiling fell on him.

Lawyer Stefano Filetti represented the contractors. Lawyer Charles Mercieca represented Samuel Borg. Lawyers Michael Grech, Joe Giglio and Michaela Giglio represented Luca Miceli Demajo.

Attorney General lawyers Ettienne Savona and Manuel Grech prosecuted.

Lawyers Francesca Zarb and Karl Micallef were parte civile.

The case continues on March 18.