MEP David Casa has written to Europe’s largest trade union confederation, urging support for a public inquiry to protect workers in Malta.

He referred to the public inquiry being sought by construction victim Jean Paul Sofia's mother saying:

“His mother insists that a public inquiry is needed to prevent this from happening again to anyone else, so that the death of her son would not be for nothing.

“Instead of support, Jean Paul Sofia’s mother has found resistance from the authorities. She should not have to go through political battles to ensure justice for her son and safety for all workers in Malta,” Casa said.

Sofa, 20, was killed when a building collapsed while under construction at the Corradino industrial estate in December. 

He not only affirmed that a public inquiry was an international obligation incumbent on the Maltese state but insisted on a public inquiry “so as to ensure that workers no longer have to risk their lives because of shabby regulation, commercial interests and unbridled greed”.

“Workers in Malta must be protected and it starts with a public inquiry into the death of Jean Paul Sofia,” Casa insisted.

The mother's call for an inquiry is being supported by the Nationalist Party.

The European Trade Union Confederation is a major trade union organisation, representing dozens of national trade unions at the European level.

Maltese unions were sent a copy of the letter.

In March, Casa also wrote to the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights calling for scrutiny of the government’s persistence against launching an independent public inquiry into Sofia's death.