Updated 4.15 pm

A contractor questioned over the alleged roadside dumping of an injured worker is not a member of the Malta Developers' Association and had not even registered as a contractor, the association said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the MDA said that it condemned the incident on Tuesday afternoon, and it regretted that some people were using it to cast the whole building industry in a bad light.

The worker was found seriously injured on a road near Selmun. He had reportedly suffered a two-storey fall and was dumped there because he had been employed illegally.

The MDA said the contractor at the site where the worker was injured, Glen Farrugia was never one of its members and was not included in a register of contractors that had previously been set up.

A contractors' register was first introduced in 2019 and given to the MDA to administer. But the ombudsman had subsequently found that the Building Regulations Office had broken the law by handing that responsibility over to the MDA.

That list no longer appears to be public, with the BRO's successor, the Building and Construction Authority, not featuring any such register of contractors on its website. The BCA does however provide a list of licenced masons. Farrugia does not feature on that list. 

Tuesday's incident in Selmun drew widespread condemnation from political leaders and other stakeholders, including the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers, which argued that it was further evidence of the need for all contractors to require a licence in order to operate. 

"Until contractors are required to possess a licence to operate, which among other things would ensure that they adhere to construction regulations and provide lawful employment, we will never make the quality leap we require," the KTP said. 

Incident highlights need to address racism, worker exploitation - NCPE

In another statement, the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) strongly condemned the incident and augured that justice is served.

It highlighted the importance of addressing racism in society and combatting workers’ exploitation in all its forms so that all workers in Malta can enjoy decent working conditions and fair treatment.  It noted the many voices that were raised to condemn this behaviour.

“Tuesday’s incident comes against a backdrop of wider discriminatory attitudes and discourses towards persons hailing from certain cultural and national backgrounds, something that leads to their devaluation and is conducive to their mistreatment.

“A pro-active effort by politicians, government authorities, workers’ unions and society at large is needed to prevent workers from becoming marginalised and disempowered because of their skin colour, cultural background, ethnicity or nationality,” it said.

The NCPE emphasised the importance of ensuring that foreign workers in Malta have access to adequate working permits that allow them to work regularly and empower them to report cases of exploitation and mistreatment. 

UĦM again calls for employment contracts portal

UĦM Voice of the Workers chief executive Josef Vella also condemned the act when addressing a news conference on the union's proposals for the Budget in the morning.

He said the appalling incident could have been avoided had the government set up an employment contracts portal proposal, which the union had been calling for since 2016.

Such a portal is a powerful tool to fight workers’ exploitation, he said.

All employees should be treated fairly, with respect - design association

The Malta Interior Design Association also "strongly condemn this deliberate inhumane act". 

The association said it actively supported quality, licensed and legal employment adding that all employees should be treated fairly, compassionately and with due respect. 

It said it is evident that the construction industry requires to be regulated and licensed without further delay. The draft regulations on the licensing of contractors, on hold since May 2019, should be a top priority. 

Such scenarios, which seem to have become a detestable norm shadowing the industry in Malta, make it easier for companies to exploit humans which ultimately disrepute a professional trade striving towards fundamental criterion in the industry, the association said.