Watch: Works stopped after metal beams hoisted above Pembroke road
It is illegal to lift objects above a road without getting a permit to close it
A stop-works order was issued after contractors engaged on the mega City Centre development in St George's Bay hoisted large metal beams above a public road.
The Occupational Health & Safety Authority issued the order following a site inspection, stating that while the site was otherwise compliant, the incident raised safety concerns.
Video footage sent to Times of Malta shows the beams being lifted from one side of the road leading down to St George’s Bay to the other with a crane on Sunday. Several cars and pedestrians can be seen passing beneath the beams.
Such works cannot be carried out unless a permit to close the road is first issued.
Works on the db Group's sprawling City Centre project at the site of the old Institute for Tourism Studies at St George’s Bay began in 2023, following an eight-year battle with objectors in front of the Planning Authority and the law courts.
The project, described as "world-class" by db Group, will include a hotel, high-end apartments and retail and commercial spaces.
In June, the company applied for permission to build an extra seven floors. If approved, the PA application (PA/03218/25) would allow the company to build 82 more apartments at the mega-development, turning two 17- and 18-storey towers into ones rising 23 and 25 floors, respectively.
In a Facebook post about the incident, Momentum chairperson Arnold Cassola said it was "not an isolated lapse — it is the culmination of unchecked overdevelopment, impunity, and disregard for community wellbeing".
"We, the citizens, have had enough of hazardous construction, negligence by authorities, and impunity by powerful developers. Every person deserves better — a safe, clean, and law-abiding built environment."