ADPD – The Green Party on Saturday about the need for action in the construction sector after another fatality on a construction site.
Addressing the media in Pieta, ADPD Chairperson Sandra Gauci said that after the tragic death of another worker on a construction site in Sliema, the Prime Minister announced that calls are open for more inspectors for inspections on construction sites. “This was something that he was well aware of but chose to ignore the problem. Now because there is another death on his hands, he has decided to do something. And just a couple of days ago another serious incident happened in Floriana where the roof of a residence caved in. A family can count themselves as lucky because they had decided to move to another place pending the construction works next door.
The resignation of Jesmond Muscat, the CEO of the Building and Construction Authority, after the tragic death of an Albanian worker, appears to be simply in reaction to what has happened. Taking the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry, whereby the State was found to be guilty, it appears that the state is far from showing any remorse or the will to change things. The cowboys in the construction sector are still with us and the sense of impunity and zero-enforcement is still evident. If this accident had not happened, would anybody have known that these works were not covered by a permit? I have my reservations.
Despite the resignations in the wake of the Sofia public inquiry, the problems are still there and those who have appointed these people in the first place are those who are truly responsible. Until Ministers Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, Silvio Schembri and Miriam Dalli resign, the resignations of these CEOs are only a public relations exercise to maintain a public image with no substance to back this up. We have ministers for salaries and ribbon-cutting events, but they are not accountable for their actions and their choices. There is the need for political maturity and for them to resign to show that they are equal to use and not above us.
When you have bricks falling on cars parked along streets, such as what happened in Buġibba, one perceives that this is the result of incompetence and not just some random incident. When you see an elderly person, out of desperation, taking the law into his hands following the collapse of his home due to adjoining construction works, you know that the people have been pushed to their limits,” she said
