The protest being held on Saturday at the site of Monday’s building collapse is intended as an expression of outrage at the “developers’ dictatorship”, organisers Moviment Graffitti say.
The event will allow activists and members of the public to express their anger at the developers and their grief over the death of Miriam Pace, as well as to present proposals on reforming the construction industry, Moviment Graffitti’s Andre Callus told Times of Malta.
“The most important part of this protest is about allowing people to express their anger. This anger is completely justified,” he said.
“Residents and citizens are held hostage by a group of developers who consider themselves above the law and have total control over politics, its players and the authorities that should be administering it,” the protest Facebook page says.
The protest starts outside St Thomas More College at 10.30am before moving to the site of Monday’s building collapse which tragically ended the life of the 54-year-old mother of two.
Pace died when the rear of the building collapsed into the next door construction site.
Emergency services were called to the scene, along with cranes and a sniffer dog to clear the rubble and search for the trapped woman.
Her body was recovered later that evening.
Pace’s funeral was held on Thursday afternoon. She is survived by her husband, Carmel, and two children Ivana and Matthew.
A silent protest was held close to the site on Tuesday evening.
The ‘Down with the Developers’ Dictatorship’ protest, called after the death of Pace under the rubble of her collapsed house adjacent to a construction site, will demand that the government takes account of the interests of the common Maltese above those of the developers’, the organisers say.
It is also aimed at raising awareness of how existing problems in the construction industry impact on common people.
The construction lobby continually interferes in the reform of the sector and controls politics and the bodies intended to monitor it, Graffitti says. Residents and citizens have become hostage to developers.
Residents and citizens are held hostage by a group of developers who consider themselves above the law
The protest was also about hope and the push for reform.
“We are also presenting a number of proposals on how to change the way things are done. We need to push for change.”
Graffitti this week proposed five key changes on how the construction industry is regulated.
These changes centre around a contractor’s register, a delay in issuing planning permits in areas set to be developed, better laws on health and safety, the safeguarding of workers’ rights and the strengthening of the police and other construction watchdogs to crack down on illegal and unsafe practices.
Saturday's call to action mirrors one in June last year following the partial collapse of three buildings in Ħamrun, Gwardamanġa and Mellieħa.
Residents and associations were called to express their displeasure against the “dictatorship of the developers” in a protest march.