A retaining wall costing around €650,000 recently built around a Ħal Far construction site is to be demolished after a government agency decided to redesign the space.
The wall surrounds a site that is set to become a micro-business park and is being administered by Industrial Innovative Solutions (INDIS) Malta, which manages government-owned industrial parks.
It was part of a €1.3 million tender that included excavation works but is set to be demolished as part of a new tender totalling €4.8 million. The demolition was first flagged by independent politician Arnold Cassola who accused INDIS Malta of “throwing away €1.3 million of taxpayer money” given that the wall, recently completed, is now going to be demolished.
INDIS, however, said that Cassola was incorrect as the €1.3 million also included the extensive excavation of the large site. Its executive chairman, Jean Pierre Attard, told Times of Malta the wall cost “less than half” that amount.
Cassola pointed towards two tenders issued by the Contracts Department. The first (IND-HHF-T048-21) was for the “excavation works and construction of a retaining wall” at HHF039, Ħal Far industrial estate and was awarded for €1.3 million. Cassola said works were completed in May this year.
The wall, he said, is “now earmarked for complete obliteration as part of the scope of another Contracts Department tender (IND-HHF-T012-23) with an estimated value of €4.8 million”.
It is unclear whether this waste of money, time and resources is a result of bad workmanship, faulty design or a planning blunder. It is equally uncertain whether anyone will be held accountable for this massive waste. INDIS Malta is duty bound to explain- Arnold Cassola, independent politician
The tender, still to be adjudicated, is “for demolition works and construction of reservoir at HHF039 at Ħal Far industrial estate”.
“The condemned works consist of an entire 440-metre length of heavily reinforced concrete retaining wall, almost two storeys high and over half a metre thick… It is unclear whether this waste of money, time and resources is a result of bad workmanship, faulty design or a planning blunder. It is equally uncertain whether anyone will be held accountable for this massive waste. INDIS Malta is duty bound to explain,” Cassola said.
Attard said the project, launched in January 2022, consisted of a complex of 44 micro-enterprise garages. Interest in the sector surpassed all expectations and, within a short time, INDIS received over 100 applications from small businesses.
Following an intensive study and a redesign to maximise the space, INDIS was looking to add an additional 60 garages on the same footprint. This would allow more small businesses to work efficiently without inconveniencing residents, he said.
