Bonnici hails progress at housing project caught in crisis that sank Galdes

Housing Minister Owen Bonnici has hailed “substantial progress” at the stalled Ħal Farruġ social housing development, the same project whose funding crisis and unpaid contractors featured prominently in the controversy surrounding his predecessor Roderick Galdes’s resignation.

Visiting the site without the media present, Bonnici described the 267-apartment development as an investment of approximately €45 million.

While the project is already two years late and several million euros over budget, Bonnici provided no completion date, quantified measure of progress, or explanation of how the financial difficulties had been resolved.

The visit comes just days after Galdes publicly criticised Owen Bonnici over delays in social housing delivery, following revelations about a separate stalled development in Siġġiewi.

At Ħal Farruġ, the history extends beyond construction delays.

In November 2025, The Shift revealed that the development, then valued at €44 million, had ground to a halt amid severe cash shortages at government-controlled Malita Investments. Contractors reportedly stopped working after outstanding payments went unsettled.

Malita acknowledged liquidity constraints but disputed that account of the suspension, saying it had itself halted work under its contractual rights.

Contractor Alexis Vella Falzon subsequently told The Shift that his company was owed approximately €1.6 million, including retention, guarantees and VAT. He accused Malita of repeatedly assuring contractors that payments would be made while their businesses faced mounting financial pressure.

The financial crisis developed alongside allegations of political interference.

Former Malita chair Marlene Mizzi accused Galdes of meddling in company affairs and maintaining overly close relationships with contractors. Galdes rejected her allegations.

He resigned in January amid the Malita controversy and separate scrutiny of his private property dealings with the same contractors involved in Malita projects, maintaining that he had acted lawfully.

So far, the police have taken no criminal action against Galdes.

The development’s timetable has also slipped substantially.

Malita’s earlier published schedule envisaged completion of the entire project by December 2026, with the first block ready in October 2025. Full delivery was subsequently pushed to December 2028. An April 2026 company announcement listed phased completion: Block A in 2026, Block B in 2027 and Block C by 2028.

The Shift is informed that the project’s completion has been pushed back further.

Bonnici did not state when the first families in need would be able to move into the new social housing apartments.