Developers are not criminals, Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg told a meeting of the Malta Developers’ Association on Monday as he discussed the new construction site rules just issued by the government.
Speaking to a packed hall full of developers, Dr Borg said that some might wish to portray developers as criminals who flouted the law. However, in his opinion, developers were employers, who created jobs, and helped the economy to grow.
Several hundred developers flooded the main auditorium of the Dolmen Hotel in Qawra for a meeting of the MDA in which the new regulations governing the construction sector were explained by experts.
Dr Borg said that some had said that the regulations - which were introduced after a lightening consultation of just five days - were rushed through. If the consultation was longer, then the criticism facing the government would have been about longer delays to works, he said.
One of the main issues of contention with the new regulations is the responsibility being placed on architects’ shoulders when it came to signing off on the way demolition and excavation is done.
Weighing in on this, Dr Borg said that everyone knew that prior to the reform loopholes existed and it had not been clear who was responsible for what.
MDA president Sandro Chetcuti started off by expressing solidarity with the families whose homes had collapsed due to neighbouring demolition works.
“We here all love the industry and worked hard to get it out of Intensive Care Unit… we have to look after it,” he said.
Mr Chetcuti said that after the string of building collapses, developers could have blamed architects, or certain contractors.
“We could have done what others did and protested,” he said.
Thanking the Kamra tal-Periti for their assistance, Mr Chetcuti said the law had been drafted to make things better.
Meanwhile, he assured the MDA members that he was working with the government for the setting up of a development council by the end of the year, that will ensure the registration of all those involved in the sector.