Watch: Crane Operator Suspended After Caught Dipping Concrete Bucket Into Qawra Sea
Witnesses in Qawra were shocked to see an AX Construction crane dipping a concrete bucket directly into the sea in broad daylight – leaving behind a trail of murky residue.
“We have been made aware of the incident, and we strongly denounce it without reservation,” a representative of AX told Lovin Malta.
AX Construction – a huge Maltese development company with the slogan “building our future, restoring our heritage” – released a public statement as soon as they became aware of the incident, which they described as “an isolated occurrence”.
“Regrettably, one of our employees at one of our construction sites in Qawra engaged in malpractice by disregarding company policies and placing equipment in the sea,” said AX.
“We condemn this incident unreservedly and sincerely apologise to the community. This is an isolated incident, and we are taking all necessary measures to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
Upon hearing about the incident, the company’s management held an “urgent meeting with the employee, resulting in the issuance of a formal warning and suspension”.
In contrast to AX’s claim of this being an isolated incident, a witness near the scene who spoke to Lovin Malta said, “this is the second time this has happened since our arrival”.
“The crane has disposed of concrete into the sea to wash out the mixer. The patrons of the bar were shocked to have seen the sea turn a murky grey colour on the first dip of the cement mixer.”
While this witness speculated that the crew chose to dip the bucket into the sea to wash it out, AX did not explain what the employee sought to achieve by doing so.
It goes without saying that dipping construction equipment in the sea, particularly in a popular swimming area, is negligent and dangerous – not to mention being extremely hazardous to marine life.
This latter consideration is brought into sharp focus when considering the tragic irony of this negligence occurring within a five-minute walk of the Malta National Aquarium.
AX Construction told Lovin Malta that the crew was “definitely not” advised to take this action, and that “the incident was solely caused by the actions and misconduct of the employee – and disciplinary action has in fact already been taken”.
A company representative told Lovin Malta that during this meeting, “the employee fully acknowledged and accepted responsibility for his action” which was “in breach of company policy”.
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