Polidano General Manager Ian Napier has confirmed that the construction giant will be “reviewing the nature of its relationship” with Excel Investments Ltd, owned by three Gozitan businessmen: Joseph Portelli, known for J Portelli Projects, behind Mercury House in St Julian's, Mark Agius, better known as Ta' Dirjanu through his chain of supermarkets, and Daniel Refalo.

Excel Investments Ltd is the company that purchased the Birkirkara Go Exchange building from Malta Properties Company for a total of €8 million.

Plans for the re-development of the site include apartment units and commercial space. On Saturday, shocking footage emerged of slabs of rock falling from the building as workers proceeded to demolish the site. The slabs did not fall within the safety boundary wall, however, and fell onto the street adjacent to the building.

Video still of demolition works in Birkirkara, with fallout onto the road 

To make matters worse, the project was led by the chairperson of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), Maria Schembri Grima, who has since resigned and is currently being investigated by the Chamber of Architects.

Both the former chairperson of the BCA and Joseph Portelli, the developer behind the construction site, blamed contractors for the incident.

The main contractor responsible for the construction site are PRA Construction (a company owned by Joseph Portelli, Mark Agius, Daniel Refalo), while Polidano is listed as a sub-contractor. Both have since been fined by the BCA, with Mr Portelli laying the blame on a “contractor” – understood to be a reference to Polidano for being “careless and reckless” in the execution of its works.

The BCA handed the largest fine of €5,000 to Polidano. Portelli’s business partner, Mark Agius was fined €3,150 and a further €2,000 fine was handed to the site technical officer, David Muscat, whose role was to oversee building sites during sensitive works which might affect third parties.

In a statement hitting back against Mr Portelli’s comments, Polidano GM Ian Napier also said:

“Polidano will not accept a situation whereby the developer seeks to shirk their legal and moral responsibilities and shift blame onto a sub-contractor when they themselves were duty-bound to oversee the project and intervene if any actions were not being carried out according to their instructions.”

He added that “Polidano will also be reviewing the nature of its relationship with this particular developer and considering its position on the site in question as well as explaining to the authorities that the fine imposed on the sub-contractor is both unjustified and unwarranted.”

In a statement, the company insisted that it followed the project’s method statement, which was prepared by an architect engaged by the developer/owner – Portelli’s Excel Investments – “which identified the process by which the demolition should take place”. It also insisted that it acted upon the instructions of professionals.