The Malta Developers Association has said that it will direct its members to continue any construction works that have been brought to a halt due to a lack of LESA officials from next week – irrespective of whether there will be officials or not.
This comes as industrial action at LESA has meant that a number of construction projects have ground to a halt because there are no officials available to close roads for works to continue.
The MDA urged the authorities to find a solution on the ongoing strike by LESA officials as, they said, this is having severe consequences on its members and their projects.
At the same time, the MDA said that it is considering various legal options to direct its members to continue with their projects as from next week, if the government fails to find an adequate solution.
The MDA said that is being constrained to take this action after the authorities failed to find a solution over the effects that the LESA industrial action is having on the property development sector. Despite several meetings held over the past weeks between the MDA and the authorities, no solution was forthcoming from the government, the association said.
“Due to the industrial action order given to LESA officials, members of the MDA had to halt their projects as the authorities could not provide them with LESA or TM officials when they needed to close roads and divert traffic due to the mounting of temporary mobile cranes,” the MDA said.
The MDA said that its members are being told that LESA officials were unavailable while Transport Malta is insisting that it does not have the necessary resources to man the works needed. This is having serious repercussions on MDA members and the industry at large.
“Without entering into the merits of the ongoing industrial action and fully respect its legitimacy, it cannot be that our members suffer the consequences due to a dispute they have nothing to do with,” a spokesman for the MDA said.
“While the MDA will continue to work towards a solution, its members cannot wait forever. Thus, we have now decided to give another week to let the parties find a solution. If not, we will have no other option than to direct our members to continue with their projects as normal from next Monday. We are currently considering all legal measures to make sure that our work goes on whatever the situation on the strike in the coming days,” the spokesman said.
The MDA urged the authorities and all those concerned to find a solution as soon as possible.