“Something like this worries me – In St Julian’s we have multiple construction sites – the scaffolding should have been certified properly,” he said after it was unveiled that the mesh of the scaffolding was changed afterwards.

“How proactive is Malta being for these accidents to not happen in the first place?” he questioned. 

“A lot of sites are not adhering to regulations, not all of them have nets to keep dust at bay, some keep on going with works during times they’re not supposed to, and cases like this one where scaffolding was done poorly,” he lamented.

“In this particular incident, we thank God that no one was hurt. A lot of people pass through that road, including families with children,” he expressed.

Buttigieg continued to stress that it is proactivity that the country should be focusing on so that everything is done properly from the beginning and these types of situations can be avoided.

“We already had many cases where people lost their lives, we cannot just react when a tragedy happens or almost happens,” he said.

He even criticised the Building Regulation Office, saying that sometimes it even takes as long as two days following a report made for an inspection on a site. 

“Maybe it’s a case of lack of human resources, but regardless, developers keep on going with the same arrogance they are famous for.”

He referred back to this particular case, saying that there were problems from the beginning when works were started without a permit back in January.

He even sustained that he had spoken with developer Carlo Stivala on the nature of the site, warning him that heavy winds hit the building given the geological formation.

What do you make of the mayor’s reaction?