Council permit fees for contractors to be revised

The Ministry for Justice and Local Government is to revise permit fees charged by local councils to contractors doing work in public areas, following representations by the Federation of Industry.

The fees had gone up after the transfer of responsibilities from the police to local councils.

"But there is some good news for contractors after the FOI's representations on their behalf. The government has undertaken to amend the existing regulations and reduce the rates charged very drastically," the FOI said in a statement yesterday.

The FOI also took up the case of private contractors working for the Roads and Drainage Departments and other utility corporations such as Water Services and Enemalta, who were recently threatened by Maltacom with high supervision charges that would raise substantially the cost of excavation and re-instatement works carried out in public roads.

The Roads Department has been asked to intervene and to bring the situation under control, the FOI said.

"Maltacom have complained and proposed drastic measures about repeated damages caused to their expensive cable installation underground by excavation contractors carrying out works on behalf of various other corporations," it said.

The FOI called for better management of road works without the need to add unnecessary overhead costs that would in the end hit the taxpayer.

Malta was still suffering from the unprofessional planning of services running underground that was the order of the day until recent welcome decisions by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, it said.

"Consequences of bad planning in the past cannot now be turned against contractors who are habitually accused of bad workmanship."

The FOI also pointed out that it had recommended to the government that contractors in the construction industry and in road works should be classified.

"These FOI representations of many years' standing have not been implemented and the standard of public works is suffering as a result," it said.