Barracuda scaffolding that almost toppled over was certified safe last week

Updated 6.38pm with engineer's comments

Scaffolding at the former Barracuda restaurant which came close to toppling onto a busy road was never safe to work on as it was not secured properly to the building's façade, investigations have revealed.

On Monday afternoon, Main Street in St Julian’s was temporarily closed after the scaffolding at the old Barracuda/Piccolo Padre building appeared to be leaning towards the road and pedestrians. 

Police officers cordoned off the area until the steel structure was secured. No workers were on the scaffolding at the time of the incident and no one was harmed in the incident. 

Scaffolding certified last week

Developer and site owner Carlo Stivala said a warranted engineer hired by the company had certified the scaffolding just last week. 

“The engineer inspected the scaffolding on Thursday and certified it as safe for work," Stivala told Times of Malta on Tuesday, moments after concluding a meeting about the incident. 

"I received the report on my desk on Friday afternoon- everything was done properly and at the time was fine,” he said. 

Times of Malta has seen a copy of the Scaffolding Inspection Certificate, which is signed by engineer...