A major Italian contractor involved in the construction of the new Parliament building has Maltese creditors chasing him for payment, Times of Malta has learnt.

Three subcontractors involved in the construction project are claiming the Italian company FDS Stone, owned by the Filiberti brothers, has not paid them for more than a year, racking up a debt of more than €375,000.

“We are talking about serious money here. I haven’t been paid since last year. Eventually, I pulled out of the project. I mean, what kind of company doesn’t pay you when you work on a project like this,” Godwin Micallef, whose company supplied construction vehicles for the project, told Times of Malta.

I haven’t been paid since last year

Designed by world-renowned architect Renzo Piano, the Parliament building was meant to be operational by the end of September. The official opening, however, was postponed earlier this month as works repeatedly fell behind schedule.

Mr Micallef, who owns Godwin’s Garage, said he had refused to continue working on the project until he was paid the €154,000 he is owed. “I pulled out and, for the whole month of January and most of February, work [using his equipment] wasn’t done,” he said.

Mr Micallef has won two court cases against the Italian firm. However, despite a court order for payment and numerous attempts to contact the firm, Mr Micallef said he was yet to receive the money.

‘One of them said I would have to chase him for the money’

“After I took the issue to court, they seemed to take it personally and one of them said I was going to have to chase him [for my money]. I’ve even tried going through the Italian authorities but they seem to be ignoring them too,” an enraged Mr Micallef said.

He added that he was originally owed about €300,000 but managed to get some of the funds through the Maltese courts.

Michele Filiberti, president of the Filiberti Group, declined to comment on the matter. Only a week before he had told this newspaper the delays were due to the quality of the stone being supplied by a Maltese contractor. It turns out that the stone supplier, Q Stone, is one of the creditors chasing the firm for payment.

Mark Vella, who owns the Qala firm, said he was owed about €225,000 for stone supplied for the Parliament facade.

I’ve even tried going through the Italian authorities

He said he had also taken the issue to court and won but the Filiberti firm refused to pay up.

Yet, he was still supplying stone to the company in the hope of receiving payment.

“This is a national project, so I want to see it through. Just this week I supplied another shipment,” he said.

Another contractor, who preferred to remain anonymous, said he too had not been paid by the Italian firm.

He said he was exploring different channels to receive payment.

The overall project is being coordinated by the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation but chairman Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi insists he was not responsible for the actions of individual contractors.

He explained that the works on the project were being carried out by a joint venture, which included the Italian firm.

“What happens within the joint venture, the contractors and subcontractors, frankly, is not my domain,” he said.

Attempts to contact the head of the joint venture, lawyer Peter Fenech, proved unsuccessful at the time of writing.