The 128 elderly residents of the Cospicua home that is being shut down are in the process of being moved to other homes with all relocations happening by the end of the week, a former resident said.

Active Ageing Minister Jo Etienne Abela announced last month that the care home will be shut for extensive refurbishment due to unsafe ceilings, prompting an outcry from its residents.

One 70-year-old man told Times of Malta that he is among those who already left.

“When we were all packing to leave, there was sadness,” he said. “Change is hard, especially at this age. But we were resigned to the fact there was nothing we could do.”

A month ago the residents at the home got a knock at their door asking where they would like to move before the residence is shut down and rebuilt.

They were asked to choose from a list of homes in localities that include Għaxaq, Paola, Fgura and Marsascala and given until June 15 to decide.

A few days earlier, Abela said the residence needed to undergo work to ensure it “conforms to the high standards and levels of dignity that the government requires of homes for the elderly”.

He later explained that the government must rebuild parts of the home because of faulty construction methods and because the concrete used in the ceiling “is not even fit for a simple pavement”.

When we were all packing to leave, there was sadness. But we were resigned to the fact there was nothing we could do

Residents were unhappy with the plan and hung bedsheets with messages such as “we are not leaving here” and “the elderly are not disposable.” Some were concerned that relatives could not visit them if they moved too far from their hometown.

They were especially surprised since the care home was subject to a standards assessment just a few years ago and the government spent €292,000 to install air conditioning chillers in 2021.

Labour MEP and former prime minister Alfred Sant has called for an administrative inquiry to determine who should shoulder responsibility for the structural problems at the home.

Questions sent to the Active Ageing Ministry weeks ago, asking to identify the contractor and concrete supplier and whether anyone will be held responsible, remain unanswered.