The husband of a woman who died when the residence she was in collapsed beneath her feet has reminded us that six months have passed since the tragedy cut her life short in such a terrible manner.

Writing a distressing note on the social media a few days ago, Carmel Pace said that so far the death of his wife Miriam, mother of his two children, has been for nothing.

Like the sound of thunder which is lost in the skies, “your death has been in vain”, as there have been no changes since her death. A call for a public inquiry to be held has also been ignored. Pace writes that he is “mentally broken” as so many promises were made to him, both publicly and in private meetings he had, but none of them have been fulfilled.

It was on 2 March that Miriam Pace died when the family house in Abela Scolaro Street, Hamrun crumbled. It took rescuers eight hours to find her body.

“We are not praying for much, only for us to feel safe in our homes,” Archbishop Charles Scicluna had said in the homily during the funeral mass. “So we appeal to the authorities to make this one wish come true.”

Four men have been charged in connection with the incident, but nothing will bring Miriam Pace back to life, while her family struggles to cope with the new reality.

The construction industry has been under fire for years, as no part of Malta has escaped the claws of developers who are pulling down homes to replace them with blocks of flats or simply adding more floors to existing buildings. Some of these homes are in the centre of localities, which means that so much inconvenience is caused to residents in the vicinity, while at the same time causing traffic delays and disruption.

This is not to mention the mega-projects which have created so much controversy, as environmentalists – but not only – fight, many times unsuccessfully, to stop the small green spaces that still remain from being taken up. Other monstrous structures, seen from miles away from the other side of the country, have contributed to the so-called uglification of the country.

Just take a look at a few photographs taken 10, 15 years ago and compare them to what you can see today to realise how much Malta’s landscape has changed in such a short span of time.

Successive governments have attempted to rein in the industry by introducing more regulations and imposing stiffer penalties, but as in many other instances, the economy is given more priority. The construction industry generates jobs, and is an essential pillar for the country’s general wellbeing; and so very often one eye or both are closed when it comes to the need for people to be and feel safe in their own homes.

Until a tragedy such as the one suffered by the Pace family takes place. Then politicians will say how they have tried and will try even harder to enforce regulations; and the industry’s representatives speak about the need that regulations and professional ethics are followed. The thing is, legislators can enact the strictest of laws and impose the highest of fines to tackle abuse, but if the resources to enforce these rules are limited, then it will all be in vain, as Carmel Pace wrote.

Let us not forget that the Pace tragedy is not the only one to have hit the islands in the past years. It made a bigger impact because a person died, but other incidents have left people homeless and without possessions.

What is ironic is that there are people who lost their homes because they crumbled next to excavation sites, and these collapsed edifices have been left neglected while, next to them, a new block of flats was erected. That block of flats was built on the hole which, when excavated, brought down the already existing building. And so we have situations when families lost their property and are still seeking justice while the project which ultimately led to their desperate situation has been completed and is being sold at a profit.

Asked about the Pace tragedy, Prime Minister Robert Abela told journalists that a report has been prepared and sent to the Chamber of Architects and other stakeholders, with the aim that any changes to the laws are enacted soon after Parliament resumes its meetings after the summer recess.

But, again, unless any laws are backed up by a strong effort made by the government to give the necessary resources to the authorities responsible for their enforcement, then the exercise would just have been a slap in the Pace family’s face – and that of other families who are suffering the consequences of similar incidents.