It was interesting to read Charles Buhagiar’s article on the skills scheme launched by the Building Industry Consultative Council (June 9). He argued that this initiative will lead to a culture change within the industry.

There is indeed a need for a culture change but this should mainly relate to the behaviour of building contractors. Many contractors ride roughshod over the interests of the families residing in the neighbourhood of building sites.

Most building sites in Malta and Gozo uglify the surroundings through the use of scrap materials, rusty scaffolding (sometimes with dangerous uncovered sharp protruding edges) and tattered pieces of cloth as hoarding. They use makeshift parking signs, not always with suitable permits.

Many contractors do not take sufficient measures to control the spread of building debris outside the construction site and to reduce emissions of dust and of polluting gasses from their old vehicles.

They often do not take steps to ensure that vehicles that exit the building site do not carry dust and small pieces of stone outside the site onto the nearby streets. We see buildings worth millions of euros being constructed by penny-pinching and irrespon-sible contractors.

If BICC is to have a meaningful role it should work closely with the Building Regulations Office, with the Occupational Health and Safety Authority and with the police to usher in a culture change among building contractors by working to impose and enforce standards during the building process on three fronts, namely: (a) aesthetics; (b) reduction of discomfort and health risks for the residents in the neighbourhood and(c) safety of the workers.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.