Prime Minister’s business partners caused partial building collapse due to ‘professional negligence’

The Prime Minister’s close business partners for the past decade, Bonnici Group, have been formally held responsible for a partial wall collapse in Bulebel industrial estate that occurred last year.

In a statement published earlier on Thursday, the Chamber of Architects (Kamra tal-Periti, or KTP) announced it had concluded its investigation into the collapse, which had damaged a car but fortunately did not lead to any injuries or fatalities.

“On conclusion of its investigation, the Council determined that the collapse was the result of incorrect sequencing of works by the contractor, including the failure to infill and seal the perimeter walls, which were designed to support a slab before being cast,” the statement reads.

“The Council also noted that the project was characterised by poor workmanship in other areas, most notably mismatched wall joints near one of the corners of the site, due to the failure to build level masonry courses,” the statement continues, effectively exonerating the architect who was responsible for the works which led to the collapse.

Notably, the KTP’s statement did not mention Bonnici Group by name – a fact which was only revealed when multiple sources confirmed Bonnici Group’s involvement to The Shift shortly after the collapse occurred.

“The Council observed that the correct execution of works falls under the exclusive responsibility of the contractor and/or licensed mason, and that it is not the architect’s remit to perform quality control of works on construction sites, as this would constitute a conflict of responsibilities that would transfer the liabilities of the contractor onto the architect, and violate basic principles of impartiality and independence,” the statement concludes.

The KTP’s investigation concluded a year after the incident in question occurred. The KTP is yet to announce whether another investigation into an incident that happened during the same week in Sliema has been concluded.

The Bulebel collapse, which happened on the site of the former Gutenberg Press building, occurred within the context of a fast-tracked permit for industrial estate works – the same kind of shoddy, underscrutinised conditions which had led to the death of 20-year-old Jean Paul Sofia.

At the time, Prime Minister Robert Abela boasted that all the recommendations from the inquiry, which looked into the state’s responsibility for Sofia’s death, had been implemented, only for multiple collapses to occur the following week.

Despite their involvement in multiple projects with dubious outcomes, abrupt withdrawals from procurement processes, and regular bouts of litigation over dodgy tenders, Bonnici Group’s closeness to the Prime Minister appears to double up as political protection.

The most recent glaring example of this was Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela’s  and Finance Minister Clyde Caruana’s unprecedented decision to hand a €120 million direct order to a Bonnici Group-led consortium for a project to expand Mater Dei Hospital, even though the project is currently subject to an ongoing appeal by the same group.

The Prime Minister’s ties with Bonnici Group are well known, and stretch all the way back to befre taking office  when together with his wife, Lydia Abela, Robert Abela successfully developed and sold properties  together with Gilbert Bonnici, the managing director and shareholder of Bonnici Group.

Following Abela’s ascent to the Prime Minister’s seat, Bonnici Group were awarded hundreds of millions of euros in tenders and direct orders, with multiple instances in which it appeared evident that the public procurement process was skewed in their favour.