‘Malta Will Become Like Dubai’: Leading Contractor Sounds Warning On Turkish Cheap Labour
A leading Maltese contractor has sounded warning bells about the future of the construction industry on the island after a Turkish firm set up shop here, with workers on the minimum wage.
“This is practiced in places like Dubai, where labour conditions are disgraceful and almost slave-like,” the contractor, who employs some 300 people but who asked to remain anonymous, told Lovin Malta. “Will Maltese contractors now choose to follow suit? Are we going to end up a complete jungle?
The Times of Malta recently reported that Istanbul-based TACA Construction has opened a subsidiary Maltese company and intends to bring in some 2,500 Turkish workers to work on major construction projects. These include the Fortina office block in Tigné and reportedly also the db City Centre project in St George’s Bay and the planned extension of the St Vincent de Paul geriatric care facility.
TACA’s workers, who will be paid the minimum wage, will be housed in a makeshift village that is being built in a quarry in Mqabba.
The Maltese contractor warned this will have negative ripple effects on the economy, both in terms of the local property market and a loss of potential government revenue through social security contributions.
“We pay our construction workers a monthly average of €2,000, including their taxes and social security contributions,” he said. “If these workers are on the minimum wage, some €800 a month, it will mean they will pay peanuts.”
“It will also have ripple effects on the property market. When Maltese landlords rent out apartments to foreign construction workers, that money is injected into the economy. However, TACA will be building a makeshift village, which in itself is probably illegal.”
Meanwhile, Sliema councillor Pierre Portelli has lambasted TACA for using the local council’s contact number on its information billboard outside the Fortina project without even asking for permission.
“Shame on TACA, who have issued the wrong contact information on their info placard,” he said. “They added a Turkish phone number and the Sliema Local Council’s number to contact for any emergency. There seems to be no way to contact those responsible. I might as well wait for the arrival of the 2,500 Turkish workers and ask them, maybe someone will have the answer.”
Cover photo of cranes in Dubai from What’s On Dubai
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