(Adds statement from Office of the Speaker)
Renzo Piano's office was responsible for the new desks and chairs at the new Parliament, the Infrastructure Ministry said today after Times of Malta announced that MPs will continue meeting in the present Parliament after Christmas because the problem of larger-than-needed desks is proving to be a bigger headache than initially thought.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil last week revealed that the desks and seats were too large and MPs would have difficulty standing between them.
Although the problem seems to stem from the chamber size and design, in November 2013 a mock set of tables and chairs were put in place and tested. Officials failed to identify any problems and gave the go-ahead.
“It seems whoever is managing the project only found out about this big problem when the actual desks and seats were being fixed in place and the entire preparatory infrastructure was completed,” an engineer involved in the project said.
“Now this is a massive problem to solve as the chamber’s floor has been compromised. The options available are either to redo the whole floor of the chamber – a project that would cost hundreds of thousands and further months of delay – or redesign the already made desks by reducing their size.”
This newspaper is informed that the corporation has already gone for the second option.
The ministry said that when, in November last year, Renzo Piano visited the project, he asked the contractors to prepare desk and chair samples, which he inspected.
At that stage, the Grand Harbour Regeneration Committee, which is responsible for the project, had not given any approval since design issues had always been the responsibility of Piano's office.
When the first chairs were put in place, it was evident there was a problem in the design and manufacturing and the GHRC requested Piano's office to take all the necessary action.
Architect Antonio Belvedere came to Malta to prepare his proposals and had a meeting with GHRC and the House Business Parliamentary Committee.
Instructions on how the matter should be addressed were being given by Mr Piano's office.
No one from Speaker's office approved desks and chairs
In a statement this evening, the Office of the Speaker said that no one from his office gave any form of approval or was involved in any tests carried out in November last year.
Clarifications were requested during a visit to the building last summer and MPs had the opportunity to view the desks and seats in place last month when further clarifications and the necessary adjustments were immediately requested.
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