The cost of repairing a broken parapet wall and removing a trail of oil running down a Valletta bastion will be covered by the private contractor whose truck crane flipped over and almost fell into the ditch below on Tuesday night.
It seems there was structural and oil damage
The damage caused to the bastion wall is being assessed by an insurance company.
The boundary wall of the car park opposite the Central Bank has a gash, while the bastion is stained with oil that poured out of the truck when it upturned.
“An evaluation of the damage is taking place but, according to preliminary investigations, it seems there was structural damage to the parapet wall and damage caused by the oils from the crane,” a Resources Ministry spokesman said.
The incident took place at around 8 p.m. when the arm of the truck crane, positioned at the edge of the car park, flipped over as it was lowering heavy scaffolding down the bastion. The vehicle upturned and the arm slammed into the wall.
Metal pieces fell into the ditch below but fortunately the crane, owned by Schembri Barbros, became wedged with its cabin sticking up into the air.
A 59-year-old man from Gudja, who was operating the crane, jumped out of the cabin as soon as he felt the vehicle starting to tip over.
The truck’s owner is a contractor who forms part of Novus Vultus Joint Venture, which won a public tender for restoration works on the bastion.
This is part of an EU-funded, €36 million restoration job on six kilometres of fortifications in Valletta, Mdina, Vittoriosa and the Citadel in Gozo.
Asked for an estimate of the damage, the ministry spokesman said the restoration contract required the contractor to take out an insurance policy to cover damage to third party property and on the area where the works were going to be carried out.
“All the damage caused in this incident will be covered by the contractor,” he said.
“The material had to be lowered from that point because the railway bridge that crosses the ditch is low and large trucks can’t pass beneath,” he added.
It is still unclear what caused the truck crane to flip over but the incident is being investigated by police.
Andrew Schembri, owner of Schembri Barbros, said company employees spent the whole night clearing up the site.
He said it was still too early to say why the accident took place but added the company was carrying out its own internal inquiry.