The 30 families forced to get to their apartments through garages in recent weeks should have direct access to their homes by next week, the government has confirmed.
According to a spokeswoman for the Family and Social Solidarity Ministry, which is responsible for the Housing Authority, the contractor assigned to carry out works at the Pembroke complex has been instructed to lay a concrete pavement so that the residents can “access the main doors of the two blocks without having to pass through the garage driveway or through the wet area”.
Times of Malta reported on Friday that more than 30 families living in apartments in a complex in Pembroke, close to the ITS, have been forced to enter their homes through garages after extensive flooding in the common parts made it impossible for them use the main doors.
Read: Entry to 30 homes in Pembroke blocked after works stopped abruptly
According to the ministry spokeswoman, the contractor assigned to carry out the works laid soft stone chippings earlier this month, with the intention of casting concrete paving on February 12.
However, due to the storm that hit the country between February 9 and 11, the chippings “got waterlogged and the concrete couldn’t be cast”.
“The contractor has to wait until there is a two-week period of good weather until the torba (soft stone chippings) dries out before casting the concrete,” the spokeswoman said.
According to residents, the works that were to be carried out earlier this month were long overdue.
Times of Malta first reported the issue in July and, at the time, the residents had expressed concern that if the works were not completed before summer came to an end, there could be flooding issues.
Speaking this week, the frustrated residents said that they had been contacting the Housing Authority for months but to no avail.
They had, in fact, warned the authority that failure to carry out the works in time could result in flooding and that if any damage was done to their properties, they would be holding the entity responsible.
On this, the spokeswoman said that in such cases, it was standard practice for the contractor and the Housing Authority to “compensate families if confirmed that structural damage was unexpectedly caused as a result of the project”.