‘Nothing Has Changed’ One Year On From Migrant Construction Worker Left For Dead In Mellieħa
The woman who discovered a migrant worker who had been injured at a worksite and dumped in a quiet, dusty road one year ago has called out Malta’s authorities for making little to no progress in that same time.
“A year ago Lamin Jaiteh’s life changed forever,” Caroline Galea said.
“After falling off a building which he was working on, he was dumped on a road with a broken back and fractured arm. Jaiteh managed to drag himself up onto the pavement where he lay crying in the scorching sun in agony. This is how he was found, terrified and begging for someone to help him; to not let him die.”
The then-32-year-old Ghanian national was injured after falling two storeys while working in a construction site.
The worker was in clear need of medical attention and willingly got into his employer’s car when he offered to take him to hospital – however, he was dumped on the side of the road.
Footage of the moment of his fall has been shown in court. Glen Farrugia, the director of J&G Construction, pleaded not guilty to a host of charges including voluntary grievous bodily harm, negligence that led to the injury as well as trying to destroy evidence. Farrugia was also charged with a number of employment and occupational health and safety law breaches.
Hear from Jaiteh himself in Lovin Malta’s interview with the man days after the day that changed his life forever:
Galea recounted how Jaiteh’s defense was taken on by the Public Interest Litigation Network’s Gianluca Cappitta, set up by the The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation
However, she said the legal case, still at prosecution stage, had been “dragging on for a year now”.
“The defence are yet to even begin presenting their evidence. These long delays are a travesty of justice,” she said.
One year after Malta was shocked by the incident, construction site accidents continue to happen.
“The enforcement on health and safety is still basically non existent. It remains a context marked by insecurity, exploitation, danger and an apparent disregard for basic human dignity and rights,” Galea said.
“The buildings continue to rise, and workers are exploited as needed, then bulldozed away once they’ve served their purpose.”
Jaiteh, 33, dreams of providing for his family, even designing and creating original clothing that he hopes to sell locally. But the recovery since his accident has been long and hard.
“Still, Jaiteh always seems to have more resilience and smiles to share than most people I have met, and always wants to know how I am doing rather than talk about himself first,” she said.
“A year ago people responded with shock and concern. But one year on, at an institutional level at least, nothing meaningful has changed.”
“So, has anything been learnt from this? I don’t know when or how this ends for him, but suffice to say, I don’t see justice for Jaiteh.”
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Did you expect the court case to have moved along further one year on?
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