Updated 9.55am
Anger at Malta’s construction lobby will spill onto the streets on Tuesday evening as activists rally to march against rampant, unfettered development.
The Moviment Graffitti protest, which begins at 6pm outside St Luke’s Hospital, is expected to bring together people from all walks of life and will see people march to Malta Development Association offices just a few hundred metres away.
"We want those who have had enough of this situation to join us, together with their families. Bring placards and if you can, musical instruments - no partisan messages will be tolerated, because this is a people's protest," organisers said in a rallying call to drum up support.
“If you’ve had enough of the development lobby and their arrogant control over the islands, walk with us. Otherwise, typing away at home won’t help you,” they added.
Irritation at lax enforcement of construction laws and developers’ power over politicians has bubbled over in recent weeks, following a spate of building collapses and construction site accidents in recent weeks.
“This is not our protest,” a Moviment Graffitti spokesperson told Times of Malta.
“It is the protest of residents of Pieta’, Mellieħa and Ħamrun,” he said, referring to the sites of three separate building collapses in the past months.
“It is the protest of people all across the country who are fed up of the arrogance and bullying of the development lobby and sick and tired of being ignored by the planning boards, which constantly favour developers over residents”.
Activists have a litany of complaints about Malta’s development sector and have protested – and appealed – against several major projects, from the db Group’s City Centre project in Pembroke to plans to build an undersea tunnel stretching from Manikata to Nadur, as well as “permanent construction” in Sliema, St Julian’s and Swieqi.
At least three other civil society groups – democracy-focused Repubblika and leftist think tank Żminijietna and environmental NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar – have endorsed the protest and said they will march with Graffitti in the evening.
Partit Demokratiku will also be taking part. It said in a statement on Tuesday that the recent construction disasters were an acute symptom of a chronic condition and linked to a lack of, or selective, enforcement.
The lack of good governance and authorities under continuous political influence were driving Malta into a degenerative economy as the latter was supported by construction, population increase, consumerism, and the selling off of anything and everything.
It said it was against cosmetic solutions and populist politics but in favour of the force of reason where prosperity was hallmarked by peace of mind.
The government has scrambled to react following a collapse last week in Guardamangia, suspending all excavation and demolition work and fast-tracking plans to revise construction legislation.
That reaction, however, has not placated activists, who are demanding a limit on the number of planning permits issued, tighter restrictions on permitted hours for construction and serious enforcement of existing laws, among other things.