The Dock No. 1 project in Cospicua has blocked access to a couple’s restaurant for nearly 14 months, robbing them of their only income and forcing them to sell their car and jewellery to make ends meet.

Benny and Marisa Bondin’s family of five has been living on practically nothing since then, with Mrs Bondin needing tranquillisers.

“I had to sell all my gold, including my wedding and engagement rings as well as my great-grandmother’s antique coins to be able to continue giving my three children an acceptable standard of living,” Mrs Bondin said, adding that her husband let go of his car.

An artist’s impression of the restaurant area once the project is completed.

Seven years ago, the Bondins made a €280,000 investment to turn a disused warehouse into a seaside dining place, The Regatta Bar and Restaurant.

They had to fork out another €75,000 in 2009 after a fire, caused by a short circuit, destroyed equipment in the restaurant.

The family-run business was doing well until Easter Monday last year, when Italian contractor Marinelli Construzioni SpA, which has since been sacked from the job, started working on the Dock 1 project, giving them no forewarning to empty the restaurant, they say.

The restaurant was known in the region for its food, especially its pizzas, but the business grinded to a halt when the project started.

More than a year later, the family still has no idea when the business will be up and running.

The interior of the restaurant is in a shambles, as is the exterior, with furniture and kitchen equipment covered in a thick layer of dust. The rusting fridges are full of expired soft drinks and beers.

The Dock 1 embellishment project was announced in February 2008 when the government applied for EU funds. A call for tenders was issued in May 2010, attracting four bidders, including Marinelli, which submitted the cheapest offer.

Work on the €3.8 million project started in January 2011 and was meant to have been wrapped up this month. But last March, after the work was stalled for several weeks, the government sacked the company for abandoning the project, forcing a fresh call for tenders to be made this week and pushing the completion date back by a year to the summer of 2013.

Cospicua is in shambles because of the Dock1 project. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

In the meantime, residents and visitors have had to put up with clouds of dust and suffer unfinished roads. But for the Bondins, the concerns go deeper.

The project blocked access to their only income with Mr Bondin saying he was expecting court summons over failure to pay his VAT dues, which money he had to use to be able to subsist.

“We have already missed out on two summers of business (last year’s and this one) and a whole winter. Apart from that, rainwater has seeped in, damaging the interior. When the project is ready, it’s not about opening a week later. I have a lot of work to do in here,” an exasperated Mr Bondin said.

Mrs Bondin said their lawyers had written to the banks informing them repayments could not be made. Although the banks closed an eye, the interests are bloating their loans.

The Bondins, both 46, have initiated civil proceedings against Marinelli SpA to try recouping some of the losses and are hoping for the best.

Cospicua mayor Joe Scerri sympathised with the Bondins, saying other business owners in the area had also seen their sales dwindle.

Works on Triq ix-Xatt were ignoring the everyday needs of the residents and businesses of the area, which had a huge decline in sales. He said that, as a result of the works, parking had been reduced by 65 per cent and there were no loading bays for businesses in the street.

No solution had yet been found for the problem, with businessmen being fined while unloading stock from their vehicles. According to law, he said, there had to be an unloading bay for ever six shops. There are 42 shops and not one bay.

Marisa Bondin leaving the Regatta Bar and Restaurant, which has been closed for nearly 14 months. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi