A property developer says he regrets what a clumsy klutz he is after completely demolishing a 300-year-old building on the site of a new supermarket in Tarxien.
“Oh goodness. Oh me oh my. Look what I’ve gone and done,” developer Anthony Caruana is reported to have said after climbing into an excavator and swinging it into one of the load-bearing walls of the historic 18th-century farmhouse that he was ordered by the Planning Authority to preserve.
“Oh bother. I just wanted to have a go on the excavator. I certainly didn’t mean to press the button and cause its boom to repeatedly slam into the side of this architecturally significant farmhouse that’s inconveniently located on the site of my supermarket. My wife is always telling me what a butter fingers I am.
“Oh crumbs. Now the Planning Authority will get mad and send me a strongly worded letter telling me not to do it again. I guess I’ll just have to expand the supermarket so the space left by the completely accidental destruction of this priceless historical gem will at least be filled.”
In a statement, the Planning Authority said:
“Mr Caruana is a very naughty boy. Aside from sending a strongly worded letter, we’re also making him spend 10 minutes on the naughty step.”
At the time of writing, Caruana had just demolished the naughty step to make way for a new petrol station.
