The Church’s Environment Commission has hit out at the way revised construction and excavation laws are being rushed through, saying a five-day consultation period is too short and that people with clear conflicts of interest are taking a leading role in revising the law.
“The KA sincerely hopes that the proposed regulations will not be a populist attempt to impress the general public that something is being done,” the commission said in a three-page statement which outlined its concerns about a sector which it said all too often ignored citizens’ needs.
“Authorities and developers have become interchangeable spokespersons for each other while the rights and views of other stakeholders have been largely ignored,” the commission said, adding that it was concerned that it seemed mistakes of the past were being repeated.
“Individuals who have been instrumental in forcing our society into these dire straits are still taking a leading role in the efforts to find a solution, irrespective of any clear conflict of interest they might harbour,” it said.
Echoing concerns voiced by activist group Moviment Graffitti on Friday, the commission insisted that revised regulations needed to take the rights and needs of common citizens, not just industry stakeholders, into account.
People needed to be educated about the responsibilities of each person involved in the construction process and more work was needed to ensure building materials were high-quality, it said.
The Commission statement comes as a reaction to government proposals to revise construction and excavation rules, following a series of building collapses in the past months. All excavation and demolition works, save for a few exceptions, were brought to a halt last week by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
Revised regulations were presented to the public for consulation on Monday and are expected to be passed into law next week.
The Church commission said that the current situation was an opportunity authorities could seize to improve building standards by making them, for instance, better able to resist earthquakes.
People were afraid, the Commission said, and felt utterly powerless when faced by a construction sector which wielded so much power. Warnings had been sounded for some time, the commission said: the building collapses had now opened up a Pandora’s box.
“Irrespective of all the rhetoric about how the industry is contributing towards Malta’s development, these events have shown its serious social (and environmental) deficit,” the commission said.
“This deficit is an indication of the cracks that are developing in the proverbial bubble, the existence of which has been repeatedly denied by that industry (and its consultants)”.
Five proposals the Commission is making:
- Introduce a public register of all qualified and certified service providers in the construction sector
- Extend the five-day consultation period to give the public more time to give feedback on the proposed changes
- Define mandatory minimum building standards and give seismic hazard vulnerability greater consideration
- Look beyond geotechnical aspects of excavation and consider materials used and adjacent property structural systems
- Run an extensive public information campaign to educate the public about the responsibilities of each stakeholder in the construction process and how they can report any irregularities