The company that is bringing hundreds of Turkish construction workers to Malta said yesterday that it has dropped plans to house its employees in a temporary village, saying that its workers will instead be housed in apartments.
TACA also insisted that its employees enjoy “decent living and working conditions” and that it is fully compliant with Malta’s laws and regulations.
The company plans to import some 500 Turkish workers to Malta to work on a number of construction projects. Recent media reports stated that the company was bringing some 2,500 workers over to Malta, that the staff were being paid minimum wage and that they were being accommodated in containers and tents, including in an Mqabba quarry.
The Planning Authority had inspected the quarry and found that, while an office building was being used for residential purposes, there was no indication that people were sleeping in tents or containers.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Sunday that the government would not allow the exploitation of foreign workers.
The company issued a statement yesterday, saying it felt the need to rectify the “numerous inaccuracies” reported in the media.
“We have a long-standing international reputation in the construction sector and are law-abiding citizens in each and every country where we are present. We are guests in Malta and we are following all the rules and will be paying tax as a Maltese entity,” company spokesman Deha Türkel said.
The company was one of a number of international construction firms that bid for a tender on the redevelopment of the Fortina Hotel in Sliema and the DB Group’s City Centre project on the former ITS site in St Julian’s.
“The company, which has eight offices around the world and specialises in the construction of super structures, has so far brought over 78 of its skilled workers to Malta. They earn an average salary of €1,450 and are provided with private healthcare insurance, flight tickets, free accommodation and three meals a day,” the company said.
“Our employees, who have been with us for years, will be coming and going according to the needs of the projects we have been contracted to undertake. Their visa prevents them from bringing over their families and they have no intention of staying in Malta. Our workers would not be with us if we did not provide them with good conditions. We take care of them in every possible situation and they get paid more than they would at home because they are away from their families,” the statement read.
“All our workers’ paperwork is in order and above board. They are skilled individuals with international expertise,” Türkel said.
TACA Construction also said it has dropped its plans to set up a temporary village – even though its workers prefer to live together as a community as they have done in other countries – and will instead be housing its employees in apartments.
Türkel said TACA Construction had sub-contracted Maltese contractors for equipment and machinery and is purchasing most of the construction supplies locally, thereby creating new economic opportunities for local industry.
“We bring a lot of expertise to the market through our extensive experience of large projects in other countries and we honestly cannot understand why we are being singled out for such attacks when we have done nothing wrong,” the company said.