House owner whose property was damaged by rain water flooding in 1997 will be getting €41,000 in damages from the government.

They will be getting their money after the Court of Appeal this morning confirmed a judgment given by the First Hall of the Civil Court in a case by Michael and Maryanne Mizzi against Joseph M Paris and his wife Mary, a former director of works and the Malta Transport Authority, which took over the case from the director of roads.

The Mizzis said that they lived in Ghaxaq and that Dr and Mrs Paris were their next door neighbours.

Dr Paris had carried out road works as a result of which the rain water that fell in the area was collected in a pit in the garden of Mr and Mrs Paris.

But following a storm in September 1997, an enormous quantity of rainwater had gathered in the Paris' garden and this burst through the dividing wall between the properties, completely flooding the Mizzis' house.

In their writ, they called upon the court to find the respondents responsible for the damages they had sustained.

In two judgments delivered in 2005 and 2006 the First Hall of the Civil Court found the governmental authorities responsible for the damages and exonerated Dr and Mrs Paris from liability.

The authorities were ordered to pay Mr and Mrs Mizzi Lm17,919.86 in damages.

The Director of Works and the authority appealed saying the first court had failed to take into account the very heavy rainfall which had led to the flooding.

They argued that this was a case of force majeure and they could therefore not be held responsible for any damages caused by the rainfall.

But the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

It established that the heavy rainfall was not the only cause of the damages sustained by Mr and Mrs Mizzi.

The road works had created the circumstances in which rainwater could cause damage and such damage was foreseeable.

There had been bad planning of the roads in the area and rainwater was ending up in a residential area rather than escaping.

A temporary arrangement had been reached whereby rainwater would be stored in Dr and Mrs Paris' cistern but the residents had foreseen that there could be flooding and had asked the authorities to take remedial action. This had not been done in time.