It is all quite surreal when a Prime Minister attempts to re-write history in his favour. He thinks that asking for the resignation of a few civil servants is going to do the trick. The country needs a much deeper understanding of the dire situation the construction industry is in, unless we want the same tragic events to happen again.
Unfortunately, the death of Jean Paul Sofia was not the first to take place on a construction site in Malta. We all know how the turbo-speed rate of development taking place in the last decade has led to many actively cutting corners and seeking cheaper solutions which too often left blood in their wake.
The country doesn’t as much as bat an eyelid when it’s a ‘foreigner’ who pays the ultimate price for the industry’s unsatisfiable greed. News of expats dying on the job quickly makes the rounds and gets just as quickly forgotten.
Often these people remain unnamed, anonymous victims of the progress this country seems to want to achieve, come what may.
New day, moving on.
29 people died on construction sites in just four years between 2018 and 2022, according to a report published last year by the Daphne Caruana Caruana Galizia Foundation. This number was shockingly higher than previous years with 20 fatalities registered during the previous seven years.
It is also telling that, while the notification forms submitted to the Occupational Health and Safety Authority had increased tenfold since 2011, the number of OHSA officers tasked with assessing those forms and inspecting workplaces had remained more or less steady at a measly 13 personnel.
The sight of an abandoned injured construction worker on the pavement of a scorching country road in Mellieħa scarred a nation in 2021. But that’s all it did. Sadly, these people don’t have the means to fight back. They don’t have the social network or family ties to fight for justice.
It took a one-woman army to bring down an entire system, and for this we are eternally grateful to Isabelle Bonnici and her steely determination to go the distance.
So, no Prime Minister or Minister should be taking any praise or political milage for the results of the Sofia public inquiry. Let us not forget how all the PL parliamentary group voted against the institution of this public inquiry, by misleading Parliament and the public, saying that it would hinder the Magisterial inquiry which was ongoing.
Most significantly let us not forget how the Prime Minister chose to go partying, and then on his yacht to Sicily, instead of doing the right thing. He thought it would blow over, over the weekend, but he was forced against the wall, and had to call the inquiry – after making his entire parliamentary group vote against it earlier that week.
It is no wonder that Randolph Debattista feels ashamed of that decision. I would too.
Thank you, Isabelle Bonnici, for being an example of Maltese steadfast determination. Thank you for leading a country towards what is right, when our leaders fail to do so. This country owes you a great debt of gratitude.