Summary
Ħamrun is the locality where Miriam Pace, 54, was killed on 2 March 2020 by the collapse of her family home into an adjacent construction site. In 2026, the area returned to public attention as the president of the Malta Chamber of Geologists challenged the official 2022 geological map for Ħamrun and Santa Venera, calling its reclassification of the local strata "very dangerous and irresponsible".
Timeline
- 2 March 2020 - Miriam Pace killed at home. A 54-year-old mother dies when her Ħamrun home collapses due to adjacent construction works. The architects later receive only suspended sentences, and the case becomes a defining reference point in the national debate on construction safety.
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8 March 2026 - Geologist challenges the official map. Dr Peter Gatt, president of the Malta Chamber of Geologists, tells The Malta Independent on Sunday that the 2022 update of Malta's official geological map reclassified the Ħamrun and Santa Venera strata as Lower Globigerina (a stronger, more durable rock), while the 1993 map had recorded the same area as Middle Globigerina, which is weaker and friable. He warns that anyone planning to build will be "under the impression that they are building on relatively stronger rock", and that the Continental Shelf Department, which publishes the maps, employs no geologists. Local geologists were not consulted and peer-reviewed Maltese research was ignored.
Source: Semira Abbas Shalan, "Geologist sounds alarm: 'We are building on unsafe ground'", The Malta Independent on Sunday, 8 March 2026.
If you are a resident with further evidence on planning impact, ground conditions or short-term-let pressure in Ħamrun, please get in touch at residentibeltin@gmail.com.