Unacceptable delays in delivery of graves by the government.

The Malta Developers Association (MDA) urges the government to find a solution to the unacceptable delays in the delivery of the Addolorata Cemetery extension project, despite that hundreds of families have paid a hefty deposit to the authorities to acquire a family grave.   

The MDA said that it is being inundated with complaints by many families who, more than three years ago, were asked to sign a promise of sale agreement to buy a new grave and had to pay a hefty deposit of some €4,000 each.

Despite the repeated promises by the government that its commitment is soon to be honoured, months have passed from the date when these graves had to be delivered and there seems to be no end in sight to this long drawn saga. To add insult to injury, these same families are now being asked to extend their promises of sale further.

“For the MDA it is unacceptable that the government, which should lead by example, is not keeping to its commitments. Families have forked out massive sums of money and made a lot of sacrifices to acquire their family grave. It is time that the Government puts its house in order and make sure that what it promised is delivered without any further delay,” the MDA said.

The extension of the Addolarata Cemetery, including the construction of some 2,280 new graves was approved by the Planning Authority in 2016. Despite that the government will be making a massive profit from this project, selling graves at €8,000 each, no new graves have been delivered yet as stipulated by the conditions in the signed contracts.

The MDA will keep following this issue and warned that it will ask for compensation on behalf of these families if the Government’s procrastination continues.