Residents evacuated from their apartments at il-Pjazzetta are still in the dark as to when they would be able to safely return to their homes, this newspaper has learnt.

A number of residents who live in the apartment block adjacent to Sliema’s old naval clinic were on Tuesday asked by the project’s developers to move out of their homes as a precaution after cracks were reported in one of the nearby residences.

“On Tuesday, the developers came over and asked us to move into a hotel for the time being as a precaution,” one resident, who spoke to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity, said.

The residents spent the first night in one of the nearby hotels, before being moved to another hotel. They are being allowed to enter their houses to retrieve any belongings they might need – as long as they do not stay there for too long.

The resident said that while the developers have been very accommodating, they have not yet been given any information as to when they could expect to return home.

The Gasan project at il-Pjazzetta was approved in 2014 and will include an eight-storey complex containing offices, retail outlets, apartments and underlying garages.

Controversy has for years overshadowed this project, with residents and heritage groups raising concerns about possible damage to the underlying air-raid shelter and to an extensive and fragile cave system, including the iconic Għar il-Lembi and Għar id-Dud caves.

There have also been complaints about the aesthetic impact of the development, which will protrude from behind the façade of the old naval clinic.

A Sliema woman was last month shocked when a bulldozer carrying out excavation works at the same site completely destroyed her back garden. This has since been rebuilt by the developers.