The supervisors of a demolition site in Paola have been fined €9,000 by the Building and Construction Authority after workers dropped bricks and construction rubble onto the street.

The BCA said the contractor, site technical officer and site manager had been fined, and work onsite suspended until the fines were settled.

The site on Triq l-Arkata in Paola hit the headlines last month after photos emerged showing parts of the street and pavement outside the construction site covered in rubble and dust.

The incident prompted a furious response from the locality’s mayor Dominic Grima, who said the developer had closed the road to press ahead with the demolition before the council had issued a permit allowing him to do so.

In a statement, the BCA said it had investigated the incident and “applied appropriate penalties for the lack of proper traffic management, enforcement, and warning signage, as well as for depositing debris on the street”.

The authority said that "administrative fines totalling over €9,000 have been issued to the responsible parties identified under the BCA Act during the demolition phase, including the contractor, site technical officer, and site manager”.

It noted that the initial investigation had concluded the incident had occurred due to "the negligence of the parties involved on-site," adding that a ground investigation report remains outstanding and is required before excavation works begin.

Speaking to Times of Malta shortly after the incident, the BCA stressed it was "strictly prohibited" for demolition debris to be dumped on the street, and that it had imposed daily fines on the developer.

According to Planning Authority case details, several apartments and garages are being demolished at the site, with excavation works and the construction of 36 garages and 25 residential units planned to follow.

The application for the site was filed by Gozitan developer Francesco Raniero Grima, with the site management responsibility summary form attached to the application also naming him as site manager.

The same document lists Carmel Penza as the contractor responsible for the demolition and Alberto Orejon Franco as the site technical manager.

By law, demolition works should be walled off and rubble contained within the development area.