Given their training, architects and civil engineers would know what to do when they literally find themselves between a rock and a hard place, say, a brick wall. Metaphorically, however, they are evidently in the uncomfortable situation the phrase so graphically depicts.
This sorry state of affairs “is undermining the public interest”, in the words of none other than the president of the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers (KTP), Andre Pizzuto.
Worried that “public safety is… at risk”, as Pizzuto puts it, the chamber – which under the new Periti Act effectively assumed the role of a regulator – is determined to do something about it. In fact, when scaffolding and the façade of a construction site in Gżira collapsed earlier this month it opened an investigation, as it usually does in such cases, mainly to determine whether there were evident signs of professional negligence by architects.
Pizzuto considers this latest collapse as “yet another demonstration of the inadequacy of the industry’s regulatory framework”.
Notwithstanding all the talk of ensuring all observe the spirit and letter of the law and even structures and new systems being put in place to ostensibly meet this aim, the chamber, for one, still expects reassurance. That is indeed disconcerting.
It becomes even worrying learning that the much-vaunted Building and Construction Authority refuses “to engage in a meaningful strategic discussion on the priorities for the industry reform and how these fit in a wider framework”.
Ministers politically responsible for the sector had refused to engage with the architects’ representative body on such reforms. Thankfully, Pizzuto reports that the present minister, Jonathan Attard, “seemed to be significantly more receptive to collaboration”.
What has been happening in the construction industry is almost a mirror image of the circumstances surrounding the fast decline in good governance and the rule of law post 2013.
The writing was clear on the wall – especially, collapsed walls – but the authorities preferred to remain in denial. Statistics to claim fewer deaths and injuries were bandied about as one fatal fall followed another. Rhetoric and empty promises were made after every collapse, especially those with tragic consequences.
Then, exactly as had happened after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination, the government reluctantly agreed that a public inquiry be held when young Jean Paul Sofia died under a heap of rubble. That blew the lid off a can of worms.
The evidence that emerged so far – and one now awaits the inquiry board’s conclusions and report – only proved what all feared: the law of the jungle prevails in the construction industry, a territory where even those with authority fear to tread.
“The picture that is emerging, particularly after the public inquiry is one where the BCA is at a complete loss as to where to start, given the issue’s complexity, and that the political leadership is weak and ineffective. This paralysis, coupled with the lack of industry knowledge, is resulting in this prolonged crisis. The draft regulations that are being sent to us are chaotic, disjointed and piecemeal,” Pizzuto said.
Pizzuto and the organisation he heads should remain vociferous and keep up the pressure on the government and its entities.
They need to continue stressing quality and demand such from their members in all their work, including those sitting on regulatory bodies, commissions and what have you.
That will, in turn, strengthen the voice and determination of NGOs and individuals, like Sofia’s mother, striving to ensure the construction industry stands on solid rock.