The first sitting of the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry was held yesterday. It is another step towards full justice and another step towards hopefully preventing such tragedies in the future.

“He was my only son.  He had a life, a girlfriend, a future,” Isabelle Bonnici, Sofia’s mother, said during the first public inquiry sitting, her voice trembling.

“My son’s death made me feel like I had to do something,” Bonnici said.  “I don’t want any parent to go through the eternal pain I am going through now,” she later said.

The Sofia tragedy is one that gripped the nation, and saw a massive vigil held right outside the office of the Prime Minister. It was a tragedy that saw the nation unite.

The public outcry was massive. At first, Prime Minister Robert Abela refused the family’s request to launch a public inquiry, but public pressure won the day, and he launched it. The family should never have been made to wait that long for the inquiry to be called, but at least it finally was.

The terms of reference of the public inquiry were issued.

According to the terms of reference, the inquiry board must investigate whether the land which was allocated by the government to the developers was lawful, regular and followed the necessary procedures, and also whether there was a link between the allocation of the land and the building collapse and its consequences. The board must further investigate where the state had the necessary rules in place before, during, and after the death of Jean Paul Sofia and whether it ensured that the necessary regulations, policies, processes, obligations and preventive measures to protect people’s health and safety during construction works were being enforced. Among other things, it will also look into whether any State entity failed to take reasonable steps to prevent injury and/or death.

Among other things, this will hopefully reveal any weaknesses not just in laws, but also in enforcement, and reveal if any state entities failed to do their jobs. If that is the case, then action will need to be taken not only to improve the authorities in question, but also understand and reveal why any such failures would have occurred.

Far too often have we heard of construction site accidents. We need to improve practices. Hopefully the recent licensing regimes will have an impact, and result in construction site safety being taken more seriously. But that will not be enough, and strict enforcement must also take place. If a contractor constantly breaches the rules, then licenses must be revoked.

Yesterday’s sitting was the first step of the public inquiry. The court case regarding the five people charged over Sofia’s death goes on separately and justice will now have to take its course.

Bonnici asked a number of questions in the public inquiry sitting.  Among other things, she asked whether proper due diligence was carried out on the developers and whether the workers were trained. She further questioned the procedures for planning and construction in industrial zones. Bonnici also sought answers about the search and rescue procedure: do they have the required resources to do their job as best as they can?  Can they do better? She asked.

Her questions deserve answers.

One hopes that the public inquiry will result in any changes needed to ensure that, as Isabelle Bonnici said, no parent will “go through the eternal pain I am going through now.”