A well-known priest has resorted to social media to vent his frustration and distress at the relentless construction noise just outside the University of Malta gates.
The din is so loud it is harming the health of students and the rest of the community, Fr Patrick Magro says in a video, as he tries to speak over the screeching noise of construction behind him.
“This is what we have to put up with all day, every day at Dar Manwel Magri," said Fr Magro, the chaplain at the University chapel.
Dar Manwel Magri, the Jesuit community residence, is located opposite the once-popular Mireva bookshop just outside campus, which was demolished and is now being replaced by an 11-storey hotel.
Ironically, the University Health and Wellness Centre is located just behind the development.
The Jesuit priest said that when animals are mistreated, people are rightly quick to highlight the issue on social media and defend animal rights.
“Do we have any rights? Do we have to put up with this all day every day? It's harmful to our mind and our body.”
He said university research has highlighted the importance of mental health awareness and the need for peaceful green open spaces.
“This is exactly what we get outside university gate,” he said, recording the noisy construction work.
Speaking to Times of Malta, Magro said the digging and building have been going on for the past year, but the situation has turned for the worse after a mistake was made, and builders are now cutting the concrete floors.
“We Jesuits live here. And we are going crazy,” he said.
He said he spoke to one worker from the Health and Wellness Centre, who he said also struggled because of the loud construction work.
He contacted the police, who told him there was nothing they could do. The Building Construction Authority told him they would send an inspector.
The application caused an uproar among students, staff, and the public, with many expressing frustration at the 'tragedy' of the University of Malta losing its on-campus bookshop.
In 2022, Gozitan developer Mark Agius, better known as ‘Ta’ Dirjanu’ applied for permission to add another floor to the site, despite having already secured an additional two floors over and above the permitted maximum for the area in his original planning application.
In November last year, the Planning Authority approved the application for the new building with the additional floors, despite the development being located just outside the gates of the university campus, which is a residential area designed as a Student Housing Area by local plans.
University students held a 'funeral' for the demolished bookshop, carried a coffin along the campus to the site, and lit candles and even held a minute's silence.