Moviment Graffitti: ‘Sweet Talk After Miriam Pace’s Death Not Followed Up By Any Action’
Moviment Graffitti has criticised the authorities for not following up on their promises to regulate the construction industry in the wake of a fatal wall collapse in Bormla this morning.
The NGO has regularly condemned the insufficient regulations in place.
They note that despite the death of Miriam Pace in March 2020, as well as various other building collapses over the past year, the authorities have been lazy in enacting new regulations, with PR and sweet talking not being followed up by any concrete action.
“We’re not holding our breath about the construction lobby and its crocodile tears, which it probably won’t even bother to shed since those who are exploited by construction magnates score very low on the lobby’s scale of importance,” it said.
When asked for further comments, activist Andre Callus pointed out that in spite of numerous incidents involving construction workers being injured or dying at their place of work, no sound health and safety regulations have been put in place to prevent these issues in the first place.
Callus commented that this is ultimately a systemic issue within the construction industry.
He observed that after every scandal people are fed the same rhetoric by the government and the Malta Developers Association that change will come and thorough reform will be carried out imminently.
The NGO observed that this inaction is a result of hidden interests at play behind the scenes. It remarked that the government has no problem providing these businesses with incentives to buy machinery and capital, but fall short on what really matters.
Moviment Graffitti is calling on the Prime Minister to ensure that the necessary steps are taken to rein in the sector and introduce the necessary legislation to protect the rights of workers and residents.