Portelli hid behind ic-Caqnu as latest construction debacle unravelled

Gozitan construction magnate Joseph Portelli hid behind the contractors of the Polidano Group and its owner – Charles Polidano. Ic-Caqnu – in an attempt to shift the blame for the demolition debacle of the former Go exchange in Birkirkara.

The Shift can confirm that while the Polidano Group was partly responsible for the recent incident, which saw the site demolished without complying with applicable regulations, the main contractor registered on the site was PRA Construction – owned by Portelli himself and his business partners Mark Agius , known as Ta’ Dirjanuand Comino lounge chair concessionaire Daniel Refalo.

The building authority fined Polidano €5,000 on Wednesday, while developer and site manager Mark Agius fined €3,150. A further €2,000 fine was imposed on the site’s technical manager, David Muscat, who was tasked with overseeing sensitive work that could affect third parties.

Portelli had also shielded his own architect, Marisa Schembri Grima – who until yesterday was the head of the BCA – from responsibility by insisting that she was not at fault, although under current rules architects have an ongoing responsibility to ensure that their Method instructions are followed to the letter.

On February 1, the building authority she heads had given her permission, as Joseph Portelli’s architect, to begin demolishing the large building.

But just days after unsupervised work, large slabs, bricks and debris fell from the building onto the street.

When the incident made headlines, Schembri Grima was immediately asked to resign as BCA chair as the government suddenly understood it had a conflict of interest.

The Shift has repeatedly pointed out that the appointment of Schembri Grima to head the BCA was grossly unethical and fraught with conflicts of interest.

The relatively young and unknown architect was fully immersed in the work associated with Portelli, Agius and Refalo – he fronted several building proposals that transformed old houses into large blocks of flats.

The Shift had also revealed how the same architect was defending Portelli and his staff over their totally illegal concrete batching plant in Kercem, Gozo, which was built in broad daylight on public land and over which the government has taken no action for the last four years.

When contacted, Schembri Grima denied any conflict of interest and stated that Portelli was just one of her clients, although he was her main source of work.

Although Prime Minister Robert Abela had been warned several times about the conflict of interest, including with NGOs and the Kamra tal-Periti (Chamber of Architects) informally pressured him not to re-nominate Schembri Grima for office after the last general election, the Prime Minister ignored them completely.

The appointment came shortly after Abela attended a private dinner in Gozo organized by Portelli to raise funds for the Labor election campaign. Several construction companies were present at the dinner and later made donations to the election campaign.