Are current building regulations enough?

When are the authorities going to come up with serious enforcement to the regulations for the building sector to safeguard people’s lives and homes? How many people must die or lose their homes because of shoddy work that was not vetted by the competent professionals on site? Where were the structural engineers when they should have inspected works for any deficiencies in work practices?

We started the month of December with a case of faulty structural works which caused families to be evacuated in St Paul’s Bay. Three days later, a more serious incident occurred causing serious injury to workers and even the loss of a young man’s life.

So, once again, when are the authorities going to bring the responsible people to account for dereliction of duty in connection with their profession? The aforementioned incidents came to the fore because of the glaring evidence that caught the attention of the media.

How many more incidents of crass cavalier behaviour by both workers and professionals does one hear in private that do not make it to the front pages of the media?

How many complaints must the Kamra tal-Periti receive to take action against members who have been reported for their glaring dereliction of duty? Contacting your architect or structural engineer for advice or guidance these days has become a feat, let alone whether they make an appearance on site to check that works are being carried out according to best practices. Is this going to become the norm of how professionals carry out their work? Who is going to sanction this despicable behaviour?

Cannot the authorities, once and for all, come up with some serious enforcement, at least to the existent regulations to avoid all these problems and heartaches from loss of life?

Antoinette Azzopardi – Nadur

Malta is no longer what it once was

As a visitor to this once-stunning country, can anybody tell me why the new properties there are built in a terrifyingly sloppy way?

I’ve  never seen such shoddy and potentially dangerous work anywhere else I’ve travelled to. I know “progress” is essential to the island but surely not at the cost of safety/lives?

I know it’s a long time since l was there last but so many of the changes are definitely for the worse.

The hotel blocks are, in the main, extremely offensive.

Needless to say, despite my being in a more favourable financial position these days, sadly, Malta is not a place l would choose to return to; neither can l recommend it to anyone l know.

Poor Malta, the once-so-beautiful island in the Mediterranean, has become a poor substitute for what it once was.

Maddy Read – Ceredigion, Wales