Months roll into years with one "accident" after another, yet the only change being seen is the change in appointees at the Building and Construction Authority, the very authority that is supposed to prevent such incidents, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar said after another construction site accident.

These cannot be termed 'accidents' as accidents are by definition, unforeseeable incidents, FAA said. All the way back in 2012, twelve years ago, the contractors found guilty of the death of Rita Vella, buried under the rubble of her collapsed house, had been warned of the impending disaster. They were fined E4,000 each. At the Floriana site, the neighbours also say they reported damage to the architect and contractor and were ignored. 

Then as now, the architect pleaded ignorance of what was going on at their site. Certain well-connected architects build up a reputation for getting difficult applications approved, taking on many sites simultaneously with minimal supervision. Carrying out site visits once a week, as the Floriana site architect admitted to, is clearly not enough, especially in the case of an old building being built upon by foreign workers lacking experience and expertise in old Maltese structures.

These architects are well known to the authorities, but they do nothing to rein them in. Lack of enforcement everywhere comes into play, encouraging cowboys to abuse without hindrance. In this orgy of construction greed, lack of supervision, poor quality materials and unskilled workmanship are the norm, including inferior-grade concrete which is being used, which will deteriorate far more rapidly than was previously the case, FAA said.

The authorities' lack of action borders on the criminal. In 2011 the Planning Authority granted a permit to add 6 storeys onto an inhabited 1815 building which was certified as structurally unsound. The Planning Authority brushed aside the lengthy report by a top structural engineer, saying that it was not responsible for safety. Nothing has changed since then as the deaths of Miriam Pace and Jean Paul Sofia attest. Not to mention the many foreign builders whose names become a blur because they're 'only foreign workers'. 

The fear on the faces of the Floriana neighbours this morning showed how Malta's residents are being made to live, forced out of our homes and stripped of their peace of mind by the bully contractors and their henchmen - the cowboy architects, aided and abetted by the blind-eye Building and Construction Authority, the puppet Planning Authority and the cohort of politicians who control them. It is not enough for the minister in charge and the Prime Minister to mouth the right platitudes while the developers know that it's business as usual.This has to stop, FAA said.