There is a special group of workers who are working in the full glare of the sun and in the sight of one and all and who have become the admiration of the whole country.

We are referring to the group of workers, both contractor workers and Transport Malta officials who are working on the Kappara Junction works.

They have kept on working in the hot sun and searing heat of these present days, all rigidly wearing a hard hat (which must have fried their brains and heads in that heat) and also a coloured jacket.

Now it is common to see workers working without a hard hat, not just in summer but also in winter. Not here, though, you will not see one worker without a hard hat.

As we can all see, work on the upgrade has not eased off in summer: on the contrary, it has, if anything, intensified so that when schools reopen in the coming months, the work will be completed and traffic eased as a consequence.

Malta definitely has a very different work ethic from other countries. In many of these countries hard work eases off in summer especially in heatwaves. In Malta, work goes on, even at mid-day and in boiling heat.

It has often been the government’s boast that this job is being carried out according to the time schedules and within budget. We add another accolade: the work being carried out should be an example to one and all how work should be done.

We all grumble at the state of the roads and whenever there are queues but we may not give a moment’s thought to the people who work on the roads either in driving rain or in the searing heat of midsummer.

When, hopefully, the project is completed and is integrated into Regional Road, the ‘highway’ of Malta, it will hopefully not be just a monument to engineering and planning but also a monument to work as it should be done.

There are still many who jeer at the enforcement of wearing a hard hat in construction sites, given that many long years of working in construction sites has allowed workers to get away with it. It is not just the safety aspect we are focusing upon, (although safety must not get mocked at) but also the fact that rules are there to be obeyed and they do not come as an option one can do without.

Now that the government and these workers have given such an example, this must be followed up across all areas, public and private, all over Malta and Gozo. The health and safety authorities must follow up and inspect all construction work to ensure the rules are obeyed. If the Kappara junction workers could do that, so can everybody else.