Elderly couple's rented house in Sliema 'extremely dangerous'

Two septuagenarians say they live in despair in a hazardous terraced house in Sliema, parts of which are on the verge of collapse, with a constant threat to their lives, but they do not have the money to move out.

Marianne Gauci and John Vella, have been living in a rented house in St John Baptist Street for many years.

Yesterday, the pensioners filed an application in court pleading with the authorities to grant them alternative accommodation.

The application was filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court, in its Constitutional jurisdiction.

Their ordeal began in the 1980s, when the state of the house they were living in started to deteriorate rapidly.

In December 1986, an architect had found that the ceilings and the beams were badly damaged and needed immediate repairs, they say in their application.

Nearly 11 years later, while the building continued to deteriorate, the police started criminal action against the landlord, the Zammit family, for failing to take action to remove the danger.

The pensioners said that both the police and the Department of Social Accommodation were informed when a piece of masonry fell from the ceiling and slightly injured Marianne Gauci who needed stitches to her head.

In January this year, they explained, Ms Gauci filed a police report that debris was falling from the roof. Policemen inspected the place and found it to be dangerous.

In the meantime, the landlords sold the property to Mario Tonna, who the police ordered to draw up an architect's report on the state of the building.

The architect, William Lewis, said that the condition of the building was "extremely dangerous and the tenants should be evacuated immediately". But they could not move out because they had no money.

However, the pensioners continued, Mr Tonna had refused to carry out repair works, claiming that his aim was to have the tenants move out so he could demolish the building and re-develop the site.

Last month, another piece from the building got dislodged and fell onto the street, and three days later the police once again ordered Mr Tonna to repair the building and remove the danger which existed to the tenants and pedestrians.

Through their lawyer, Tonio Azzopardi, the pensioners insisted that the State had a duty to safeguard the life and safety of the citizens and to protect them from degrading treatment.

They, therefore, requested the court to issue whatever orders were required for their safety and to order the Ministry of Social Policy to provide them with alternative accommodation.