Terminated Housing Authority contractor formed company months before €6.5m Siġġiewi contract

The company awarded the construction contract for Siġġiewi’s stalled Wied Ħesri social housing project, under the watch of former minister Roderick Galdes, was incorporated just three months before the Housing Authority published the tender, The Shift can reveal.

JGS Contractors Ltd, registered on 14 March 2023, surprisingly secured the €6.5 million construction contract for the development. The Housing Authority announced its termination last week but omitted the contractor’s name from its public statement.

Registry information reviewed by The Shift identifies Justin Sammut and Jonathan Grima as equal shareholders, each holding 600 ordinary shares.

The official procurement record identifies JGS as the successful contractor under tender TWO 3/2023, published in June 2023. Its recorded contract value is €6,522,226.70.

JGS submitted three offers. Its lowest submitted price, €6,522,750, exceeded Green Building Solutions’ €6,423,350 offer. Still, it was allocated the contract despite not posting the cheapest offer.

Last week, following The Shift’s reports that the project remained stalled and millions over budget, the Authority announced the contract’s termination, acknowledging that completion had been due in July 2026.

In its termination statement, it cited repeated concerns about slow progress and failure to follow instructions from architects and project managers, Housing Projects Solutions Ltd – another government entity. It also said additional payment claims had been independently assessed and found not to be due.

The termination follows The Shift’s revelations that the estimated cost of the overall 189-apartment development increased from €19.1 million to €28.1 million while construction remained at foundation level.

The National Development and Social Fund’s 2025 annual report identifies design changes, omissions in the original bills of quantities, revised regulatory requirements and adverse site conditions as reasons for the increase.

Its independent technical monitor observed “little to no progress” during recent inspections and warned of significant risks of further delays and cost increases. Completion is now projected for 2029, but the Fund says neither the final funding requirement nor completion timing can be determined with sufficient certainty.

The NDSF stresses that procurement and project management are exclusively the Housing Authority’s responsibility.

Housing Authority CEO Matthew Zerafa, a former chief of staff of Roderick Galdes, refused to answer The Shift’s questions about these matters.

He declined to identify the terminated contractor or explain its experience before engagement. He also refused to name the project architect – Elaine Genovese, explain who appointed them and through which procedure, or provide a revised completion date and estimated final cost.

Despite the Authority’s pledge of accountability, Zerafa would not quantify any penalties imposed on the contractor or explain how construction will now proceed.

The Shift has also identified Justin Sammut as a director of JAJ Contractors, alongside Marco Mercieca and Andrew Cremona. The comany is also involved in the controversial Affordable Housing Project promoted by Roderick Galdes at the time he was a member of Robert Abela’s cabinet.

JAJ was incorporated in June 2025, shortly before the Foundation for Affordable Housing opened its development tender on in July.

According to government sources, JAJ was the preferred bidder for one of four sites intended to deliver approximately 260 apartments under the scheme promoted during Galdes’s tenure. The Shift previously reported JAJ’s participation in the affordable-housing initiative.

The foundation subsequently ordered re-evaluation but expressly denied that its decision concerned any particular bidder.

The scheme envisages apartments sold through temporary ownership at 30% below market prices. The Malta Development Association challenged it through a judicial protest and a European Commission complaint alleging potential unlawful state aid.

The Affordable Housing initiative, also supported by the Archbishop’s Curia, has been put on  hold following Roderick Galdes’s departure.