Water flows onto Sliema front from Carlo Stivala hotel development

Sliema residents have been left fuming after large volumes of water from one of Carlo Stivala’s multi-storey hotel developments on The Strand were pumped onto the street overnight.

Videos sent to Times of Malta show water gushing onto the street from at least two pipes sticking out of the construction magnate’s hotel development at the bottom of Triq San Vincenz.

The water can be seen running into the street and pooling across the busy road as pedestrians struggle to cross.

Residents say the water has been pumped out of the construction site's foundations throughout the night and early morning over the past few days.

“People sometimes can’t even cross the street with the water,” said one resident, adding he had recently seen a construction worker “literally swimming” in the water repeatedly filling the site's foundations.

In one clip, a construction worker - conspicuously without a helmet, high visibility jacket or other safety equipment - can be seen balanced precariously on top of a partially submerged excavator as the machine appears to dig into the foundations.

In a letter to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in late April, project architect Colin Zammit said workers were still “battling” water entering the site before they could start installing supporting pillars.

Slamming the lack of consideration shown to those living nearby, the resident said the water emptied into the street was just the latest in a series of grievances, with those living nearby left to deal with long hours of noisy excavation work.

A worker perches atop a partially submerged excavator.

“We can’t even open our doors and windows due to the noise and odour of exhaust fumes from machinery,” he said, stressing that excavation was continuing at the site for 12 hours a day, between 7am and 7pm, outside of regulated hours.

While construction work can continue between the hours of 7am and 8pm, excavation work may only be carried out between 7.30am and 4pm, according to the BCA website.

‘Issue quickly fixed’

Responding to the complaints, Stivala said the water discharge “only happened on Wednesday night,” and that the pipes seen in the footage had been accidentally directed into the street by backpressure in the system.

He said he had been called about the issue by a resident at around 5am and had a team on site “within 30 minutes”, after which the issue was quickly fixed.

Stivala explained that the water was usually pumped into boreholes, which were subsequently emptied by bowser trucks every two or three days.

The water could be seen stretching across the Sliema front.

Asked about the worker perched atop the construction vehicle, Stivala said the man was "maybe a mechanic" testing the excavator, which he explained had exhibited mechanical issues over the past week. He added that the vehicle would not have been excavating at the time. 

Responding to complaints of long excavation hours, the construction mogul said he had been cleared by the BCA to carry out excavation works beyond 4pm until the end of May and had subsequently applied for further clearance until June 15, which was pending approval.

Stressing that the site was under constant supervision and that excavation works were nearly at an end, Stivala said, “We have CCTV cameras and a team monitoring the site, and I visit 20 times per day.

“We did a good job, there have been no damages and we’re almost finished. Construction will start soon.”

Stivala said the pipes had been accidentally directed into the street by backpressure in the system.

Saga of controversies on same site

The recent water discharge is the latest in a saga of controversies dogging the project.

In March, workers were filmed working on the site the same morning the BCA issued a stop-work order - a day after Times of Malta sent questions to the authority about reports of unpermitted excavation. The BCA later said it had authorised limited remedial works.

And last month, the Water Services Corporation sealed several manholes in Sliema close to the Triq San Vincenz development in a bid to curb illegal dumping into the sewage network, following complaints from residents.

In February, Stivala applied to sanction the demolition of the façade from the building formerly on the site, despite having earlier committed to retaining and incorporating it in the new development.

It is Stivala's second hotel project within metres of each other on The Strand. The first, a 15-storey hotel at the bottom of Triq Lunzjata was approved by the Planning Authority, days after activists accused the developer of building higher than permitted.