Malta’s development lobby is threatening to blacklist “rogue operators” who are giving the construction sector a bad name.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Malta Developers Association said that, in the absence of a licencing system for contractors, “MDA will be taking note of rogue contractors and make sure that its members do not use their services.”
“MDA is giving its last warning to all operators in the construction industry and is going to take action so as to ensure that such misbehavior is not tolerated.”
The statement comes as fallout over a dangerous demolition in Birkirkara continues to shake the much-maligned sector.
Maria Schembri Grima resigned as chair of the construction regulator on Tuesday after Times of Malta published a video of blocks of stone raining down onto Birkirkara’s Psaila Street, as part of a project she piloted as its architect.
Both Schembri Grima and the project developer, Joseph Portelli’s Excel Investments, have blamed the demolition contractor for the dangerous works, saying the contractor had not followed the required method statement.
Neither named the contractor responsible, but sources told Times of Malta that it was Polidano, owned by construction tycoon Charles Polidano.
The MDA statement did not make specific reference to any particular project or contractor but said that “a few” contractors were “doing untold harm to the reputation of the construction industry” through their carelessness and short-sightedness.
“Such attitudes and malpractices cannot be tolerated any longer,” the MDA said. “It is obvious that these contractors are not fit for the job.”
As things currently stand, there is no barrier to entry to becoming a contractor, and no threat of professional sanction for contractors caught flouting building regulations.
The government has been pledging to introduce a licencing system for contractors for years, but has so far failed to implement such a system.
The most recent such promise was made last November by current Planning and Construction Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi.