Embellishment works on Senglea housing estate finally underway

Residents of the government housing estate in Senglea have breathed a sigh of relief following the recent commencement of embellishment works on their flats.

The three blocks in the Dockyard Terrace of Senglea, which house 33 apartments, were in dire need of renovation works – including balconies where the iron grid to sustain the building’s structure is exposed and weathered.

Where the grid is not exposed, the cracks are evident.

Those who could not afford the repairs where turning to the government requesting social housing. A new housing scheme was thus launched in October for the regeneration and maintenance of Housing Estates, with priority given to houses that predate 1995.

However, works in Senglea only started recently and residents were left wondering whether the works would start at all.

But according to Housing Authority CEO Stephen McCarthy, the delay was caused by two appeals filed by a contractor who did not win the contract following the tender process for repairs.

“One of the bidders objected to the award of the tender during the appeals period. The Finance Ministry’s review board heard the appeal but confirmed the decision in favour of the Housing Authority’s decision,” McCarthy said.

“As is his right to do, the bidder subsequently objected in court.”

This delayed the commencement of works by a further three months – although the court had a maximum of four months to hand its decision.

The embellishment works at Senglea’s housing estate form part of Malta’s Europe 2020 targets over the regeneration and maintenance of housing estates. €655,000 were allocated for 2014.

In official communication to the European Commission the Maltese government confirmed that, to date, 130 blocks have been completed.

Data provided by the Housing Authority shows that 442 works on different premises were carried out between January 2013 and May 2014. The biggest amount of works was carried out in December 2013 and April 2014.

McCarthy explained that the increase in works carried out was due to a new system adopted by the Housing Authority.

“Instead of contracting one big contractor to do the works, we have adopted the framework agreement whereby we have approximately 30 small contractors who focus on working on dangerous structures,” McCarthy said.

The Housing Authority plans on issuing another tender to increase the number of contractors it currently employs.