Miriam Pace was killed almost one year ago, buried alive beneath the rubble of her own home. It took the civil protection department hours to retrieve her body while her husband and children watched helplessly, hoping for the best and expecting the worst.
A magisterial inquiry found that those responsible for the project that caused the collapse were grossly negligent. Regulations were not adhered to and those carrying out the work lacked skills. The method statement failed to identify the techniques or equipment that were to be used for the demolition and excavation. The surveyor lacked qualifications. The architect responsible was totally absent.
The worker using the excavation equipment that brought down Pace’s building had no training. The developer lied that he had been present during excavation works but had only been on-site for a short time.
The authority responsible for checking the documentation submitted was simply “rubber-stamping” and not analysing them or demanding clarification.
This was not the first building to be destroyed by excavation works. In the few short months before Pace’s futile death there were three other identical disasters. Only sheer luck avoided loss of life. On April 23, 2019, the corner wall of a three-storey building was flattened in Guardamangia. On June 8, an elderly Mellieħa resident had to be rescued when a four-storey block collapsed. Just a few days later, a property in Ħamrun was brought down. Only months later, on that fateful March 2, luck ran out – a mother and wife was crushed to death.
The opposition demanded a public inquiry. Prime Minister Robert Abela obdurately refused. Instead, Abela turned up at the scene. With great pomp he announced that he was “angry and hurt”, making the tragedy about him. He pledged a “review of laws and oversight systems governing the construction sector” and duly tasked an expert panel with reviewing construction and excavation regulation. “The public,” Abela declared, “deserve action”.
As months went on, nothing was heard of the expert panel’s report. The total silence aggravated the deep anguish of Pace’s family and the suffering of all those whose homes were demolished or seriously damaged. Every minute of inaction and delay tightened the screw of pain for those awaiting answers and closure.
But Abela had been handed the report in April 2020. Despite his promises, he kept it secret. He did not even bother to inform the family. When, eventually, word leaked out that the report had long been submitted, he refused to publish it. His excuse for concealing the report was that since its recommendations were being discussed in parliament, “the need for its publication was eliminated”. Why was Abela hiding the report from the public who, according to him, deserved action?
Abela wants to ‘strike a balance between the needs of developers and the rights of people. What are the ‘needs’ of developers?- Kevin Cassar
The report was damning. The practices used for excavation were nothing short of “playing Russian roulette with lives of third parties”. Abela knew the findings. Yet, for months he protected those who continued to engage in such reckless and dangerous practices – the developers. With callous disregard for lives of other citizens enduring excavations next door, Abela concealed the report. Did he think the agony Pace’s family was going through would dissipate? Little did he know that the family’s torment of premature loss intensified by the day as he heartlessly kept them in suspense.
The uproar of the victim’s own family, the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers, Graffitti and Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar was deafening. Abela caved in and tabled the report in parliament within hours of his refusal to publish it. By then, however, Abela’s trust had evaporated. It was evident that his priority was not protecting the public or seeking justice for Pace and the families rendered homeless. His priority was defending and protecting his party donors – the developers.
Pace’s family is rightly clamouring for a public inquiry, emboldened by the shocking findings of the expert report and the magisterial inquiry. According to the family, the latter showcased how the institutions “blatantly failed” in safeguarding the innocent life of the victim.
Instead of showing remorse and empathy, Abela was merciless. His reply was beyond belief: “No inquiry. The institutions are functioning.” How can anybody be so lacking in basic human empathy to say that to the husband and children of the woman crushed to death, when they’ve seen the damning verdict of the magisterial inquiry and the expert report calculatingly concealed by Abela himself for months.
Abela wants to “strike a balance between the needs of developers and the rights of people”. What are the ‘needs’ of developers? To make as much money as possible in the shortest time possible, ignoring all rules and regulations. How does that balance against human life?
Abela inhabits a moral void. Faced with citizens killed by recklessness, he protects the interests of the powerful and the wealthy whose donations sustain his party. Sandro Chetcuti’s rabid advice to his members to make hay while the sun shines has been heeded. Himself a Labour Party member, he regularly facilitated meetings between Joseph Muscat and people in the “business community”. When Muscat won the 2013 election, Chetcuti was one of the select few allowed up the front steps of Castille at the inauguration.
Even after Konrad Mizzi resigned in disgrace, the president of the developers’ association was photographed hugging him at Chris Fearne’s final leadership campaign rally at Villa Arrigo. Chetcuti confirmed under oath at the Caruana Galizia inquiry that developers’ businesses gave donations to the Labour Party during its fundraising marathons. He claimed that his own donations and those of others he knew were all “above board”, whatever that means.
The honest confession of the Malta Developers’ Association’s president explains much of Abela’s despicable and irresponsible decisions: “If you don’t give donations, nothing is going to move forward.” Faced with the easy choice between preserving life and protecting party donors’ revenue, Abela chooses the culprits causing death and destruction, every time.
Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery and former PN candidate.