PN accuses Roderick Galdes of inaction after Vittoriosa building collapse
Affordable Housing Minister “did nothing” despite years of warnings over condemned property
The Nationalist Party on Friday accused Affordable Housing Minister Roderick Galdes of failing to act after four years of warnings about a condemned building which eventually collapsed in Vittoriosa on New Year’s eve.
The shadow minister for social and affordable housing, Ivan Bartolo, said Galdes “did nothing” about the structure despite being warned about its precarious state “for at least four years”.
Part of the façade of the abandoned building in triq l-Antika collapsed early on Wednesday morning. Parliamentary secretary Glenn Bedingfield visited the site that day and expressed his solidarity with the residents in the area in a social media post. No one was injured in the incident.
On Friday, Bartolo slammed the government for failing to act despite being informed “for years” about the state of the dilapidated housing building, calling their inaction “shameful”.
“Not only did they fail to act, but they also ignored repeated calls made by the mayor and even by the Labour local council itself for action to be taken,” Bartolo said.
He added that “several reports had been filed and repeatedly ignored”.
The opposition MP referred to a number of emails published by NET News that revealed Galdes had been warned about the precarious state of the building in July 2023.
Bartolo also pointed out that, apart from the emails and photographs sent by Labour mayor John Boxall, the minister had also visited the site in 2019 publicly stating that the building would be restored and used for social housing.
“Yet, nothing came of it,” Bartolo said.
He added that despite repeated warnings of imminent danger, the ministry had simply erected scaffolding around the building to contain any falling debris or stones.
Questions have been sent to the Housing Ministry.