The government spent Monday afternoon and evening boasting that 96% of the recommendations made in the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry have either already been implemented or are in the process of being done.

It did so in a press briefing given in the afternoon by the Office of the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Mark Mallia, in the presence of three of the four ministers that formed the Cabinet sub-committee entrusted with overseeing the implementation of the Sofia inquiry recommendations.

The ministers present were Jonathan Attard (Justice), Clint Camilleri (Planning) and Silvio Schembri (Economy). The fourth minister on the committee, Byron Camilleri (Home Affairs), did not attend, perhaps fearful of questions by the media on calls for his resignation following the drug heist from an Armed Forces of Malta compound a few weeks ago.

The government continued to boast about its work in the implementation of the recommendations in the parliamentary sitting that followed. We had Prime Minister Robert Abela saying that the site where the incident took place will be converted into a garden in memory of the youngster who lost his life when a building under construction collapsed. It's a good decision.

But let us remember that the Prime Minister was initially against the public inquiry. He had led his parliamentary team to vote against a motion presented by the Opposition. At the time he was insisting that there was no need for such an investigation.

As pressure mounted and people were on their way to Valletta to protest against his decision, Abela changed his mind and said the inquiry would be set up. He succumbed to the pressure from the public, led by Sofia's own mother Isabel Bonnici. Abela did not really want the inquiry to take place. He accepted only after realising the political damage his refusal was causing to him and his party.

It is good to note that the government has taken the recommendations on board. That, within one year of the inquiry report being submitted to the government, 22% of the ideas the inquiry put forward are already done and another 74% are in the process of being implemented is a positive thing.

That there was a need for more safety measures, new laws concerning security and health of workers in the industry, and a reform in the construction sector had been felt for years. Thankfully, but not before the death of a young man, the government did something about it.

Yet the difficult part will come now. Because, while it is good that regulations are strengthened, more checks and balances are introduced, and that there is greater awareness on the need of health and safety measures, it is always a problem when it comes to enforcement. The government should be doing its best to see that the rules are followed.

What the government did last Monday however brought up to the minds of many other situations that the government needs to look into.

It must keep its promise to enact a law halting any development that is taking place until all appeals are exhausted. It is a promise that PM Abela made two years ago and we are still waiting for it.

Then let us not forget that another public inquiry, that following the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, also came up with a long list of recommendations for better protection of journalists. In this case, the ideas were not implemented.

Just as much as the government deserves praise for acting fast on the Sofia inquiry, it deserves criticism for failing to implement the Caruana Galizia inquiry recommendations, and for failing to enact the law the PM pledged.