Industrial action by LESA wardens has led to a situation where building development projects have had to stop because traffic cannot be diverted and roads cannot be closed, the Malta Developers' Association.

It warned in a statement on Monday that it will order its members to resume works in a week's time unless the situation is resolved. 

Wardens were directed by the General Worker's Union to take industrial action  last month to press for better pay and conditions.

In a statement, the MDA urged the authorities to find a solution, failing which it would consider various options to enable its members to resume works.

"Despite several meetings held over the past weeks between the MDA and the authorities, no solution was forthcoming from the government," it said. 

"Due to the industrial action by LESA officials, members of the MDA have had to halt their projects as the authorities could not provide them with LESA or TM officials when they needed to close roads and divert traffic due to the mounting of temporary mobile cranes.

"MDA members are being told that LESA officials were unavailable while Transport Malta is insisting that it does not have the necessary resources to man the works. This is having serious repercussions on MDA members and the industry at large."

The developers said that while it respected the right of the wardens to take industrial action, and without going into the merits of their dispute, it was not right that its members suffered the consequences. 

“While the MDA will continue to work towards a solution, its members cannot wait forever. Thus, we have now decided to allow another week to let the parties find a solution. If not, we will have no other option than to direct our members to continue with their projects as normal from next Monday. We are currently considering all legal measures to make sure that our work goes on whatever the situation on the strike in the coming days."