The Cospicua home for the elderly needs to be closed down for refurbishment to attain “five-star” standards, active ageing minister JoEtienne Abela told parliament on Tuesday, while acknowledging that it could be “heartbreaking” for the 120 residents to be relocated while works were underway. 

A number of residents over the past days insisted that they did not want to move out, arguing that the option of moving to other homes in nearby locations would cause them hardship. The government has offered them temporary relocation to homes in Għaxaq, Paola, Fgura and Marsascala but on Monday residents hung bedsheets with messages such as "we are not leaving here" and "the elderly are not disposable".

Abela defended his ministry's decision, insisting that the Cospicua home is not up to standard and the building is unsafe. 

“Should I wait for a report that condemns the building, or worse, for a tragedy?” Abela asked. 

The elderly, he said, deserved to live in homes that were of a high standard.  

“On one side of the harbour we have elderly people, forfeiting 60 per cent of their pension but living in a five-star hotel. On the other side (in Cospicua) people are forfeiting the same amount but are living in a hostel.”    

“The opposition wants us to accept the status quo at the cradle of the Labour Party,” Abela said.  

He said that residents of the Cospicua home would be able to choose which home they would like to temporarily move to and could even visit the various homes before deciding where to go.  

Still, he said, he could understand that people felt a strong attachment to the place they grew up in.

He insisted that rumours that the old people’s home would be turned into a boutique hotel were untrue.  

“Cospicua home will be a five-star hotel, but for the elderly of Cottonera,” he said.