Malta Developers Association chief Sandro Chetcuti said today that the time when some contractors work carelessly “and we see sites being operated as third world sites is over. Those days are gone.”
He was speaking during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the eventual setting up of a Public Private Partnership to run the Considerate Construction Scheme. The scheme will be voluntary for contractors to join and sign a code of practice, and will be based off the same scheme in the UK, where those signed up will receive some form of certification or stamp.
There are three main principles this will be based on. The first principle has a focus on residents, and contractors would need to ensure that construction is done in a considerate manner. The second principle is on the employees, that they be treated fairly on site, and that all health and safety measures are taken. The third principle is on the environment.
Chetcuti explained that this industry is one of the largest economic pillars, but said that going abroad one sees construction sites which people passing by would not even notice. “This is where we need to go. The time where one works carelessly and we see sites being operated as third world sites is over. Those days are gone. We will begin working from today. While this scheme will be voluntary for now, I will be the first to work and cooperate with the authorities for this scheme to become compulsory. We cannot have certain people working in a certain way without taking notice of the neighbours and many other considerations,” he said.
Chetcuti stressed that developers already have many expenses aimed to make sites more organised. He said however, that sometimes payments are made to people who are meant to conduct certain work, which ends up not being done. He said that he wants to see boards with designs instead of netting around construction sites for example. “We will begin raising awareness and work so that our member contractors will have incentives to join this scheme, until this becomes national practice.”
Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi oversaw the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
The MOU was signed between the Ministries for Transport and tourism, the BICC, the Malta Developers Association and the Malta Tourism Authority to run this scheme. Consultation will take place with stakeholders, Minister Mizzi added. “The idea is for this scheme to evolve over a number of years, and for more contractors to join the scheme, to see proper boarding, health and safety and information for neighbours. The English team will continue helping us with this scheme.”
England, he said, arrived at a point where in order for a company to bid for a tender, it must have this voluntary certification. He said that this will not be the case for Malta immediately when asked by this newsroom, but said that bit by bit the idea is to move in that direction.
Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg spoke about the new agency that will be setup in an agency from which, eventually, the Authority regarding construction and building regulations will be setup. He said that regulations haven’t been updated for many years and said that times have changed. “Even the way projects are built and the material used has changed, and so we will act.”
He said the authority will consolidate regulations and define more clearly who is responsible for what. He said the authority will have the teeth required to operate well.
He said that there are a number of offices currently including the BICC the BRO who are all involved in construction, while stressing the need for one authority with the teeth to act and regulate the construction industry.