Residents still waiting on contractors for final decision on Gwardamangia apartments

● ‘After the shock wore off, we are well now and are just waiting to see what is going to happen’

The people who were left literally without a roof over their heads after their apartment block in Gwardamangia collapsed back in April have been given accommodation by the Housing Authority but they are still having talks with the contractors responsible since it was a privately-owned block, the Housing Authority has informed The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Just a week away from the MEP elections, Malta’s daily life has been flooded with the unveiling of numerous political billboards about who said what at the party rallies.

As all the attention is currently on the seemingly never-ending finger pointing between one politician and another, many have forgotten an extremely shocking incident that happened only a few weeks ago.

The collapse of an apartment block located on Gwardamangia Hill, which left seven people homeless, made headlines back in April. Journalists spent the day after the incident on site to see first-hand what had happened and social media was flooded with comments left, right and centre about the destructive effect that the construction industry is having on the island.

Today, the street, which just a few weeks ago was covered in rubble and debris, is now cleared and only the walls of the property now remain and the Driving Theory test centre, which used to be located beneath the apartments, has been relocated to opposite the collapsed block. The Malta Independent visited the site earlier this week, and there were no contractors or workers on site.

This newspaper contacted the Housing Authority to ascertain the current situation of these residents and whether they have all been provided with alternative accommodation. We were told: “We as an Authority have provided the families with a choice of up-to-standard accommodation and all of them are currently residing in apartments we have provided for them.”

The Authority has also covered all the financial costs the residents faced in purchasing essential items they had lost: “We paid the basic necessities of these people and we have kept in touch with them to make sure that they are okay and whether they need any assistance.”

The spokesperson informed the newsroom that the Authority has no control over what will happen to the property, since it is privately-owned and, as such, the former residents themselves will need to discuss this with the contractors.

The son of a couple who lived in the Gwardamangia apartments also spoke about the aftermath of the incident. “After the shock wore off, we are well now and are just waiting to see what is going to happen,” he said. He added that the architects and contractors are still holding meetings and have not yet decided whether or not to demolish the building, or what exactly will happen. “Luckily,” he said, “no one was injured and I hope that this does not happen again to anyone.”