Lay Lay Construction was today ordered by a court to remove buildings erected on land which does not belong to it in Attard.
Mr Justice Silvio Meli delivered this judgment in an action filed by Francis Manduca 27 years ago. Following the death of Mr Manduca the case was continued by his heirs Joseph and Alfred Manduca.
Mr Manduca had told the court that he was the owner of a plot of land known as Plot L4 at Ta' Rmiedi in the limits of Attard. According to Mr Manduca, the company had usurped some 446 square metres of the land and had erected buildings.
The company had also taken over another portion of land which it held in common with Mr Manduca in the same area and had constructed buildings. Mr Manduca had requested the court to order the company to demolish all constructions on these two portions of land.
The company denied the allegations and, in 1987, 11 owners of the properties constructed on these portions of land were called into the suit. These owners were Jimmy Fsadni, Mary Vassallo, David Fenech, John Fenech, John Bellizzi, Joseph Falzon, Mario Abela, Francis Giudice, Filomena Azzopardi, Anthony Bezzina and George Vella.
All the owners denied Mr Manduca's claims against them and pleaded that they had purchased their properties in good faith from third parties.
The court-appointed architect who inspected the land in question established that there had been an invasion of Mr Manduca's property by the company which had divided the land into plots and sold them. Those third parties who had purchased their properties from the company or from other parties were also responsible for the usurpation of the land though they obviously had the right of recourse against their vendors.
The court-appointed architect established that three of the eleven owners were responsible for the usurpation of the land, namely James Fsadni, Filomena Azzopardi and Francis Giudice and his wife Janie.
In its judgment the court accepted the architect's conclusions and said that it was the company which had built and sold the properties on Mr Manduca's land. This was an unacceptable state of affairs said the court which added that the time taken for this case to reach a conclusion had been shameful.
Mr Justice Meli concluded by declaring that Lay Lay Company Limited had invaded Mr Manduca's property and he ordered the company and the 11 home owners to demolish all constructions erected on the land in issue within six months at the company's expense.