The morning after yet another construction-related incident, Isabelle Bonnici, the mother of the young construction site victim Jean Paul Sofia, asked whether everything will be forgotten in a week just because no-one died
On Wednesday evening, a building collapsed in Paceville, fortunately resulting in zero injuries as the residents had been evacuated just hours before. The building, located in Triq Paceville, was next to an active construction site. A stop works notice was issued by the Building & Construction Authority (BCA) on 10 June - Tuesday - on the construction site.
Isabelle Bonnici, whose son Jean Paul Sofia died in December 2023 after a building under construction collapsed in Kordin, took to social media on Thursday morning and asked what shall happen next and if any action will be taken, even though no one was injured in what could have been another fatal tragedy resulting from a building collapse, due to construction works.
"What will happen now? Will the person responsible get what they deserve for the severe damage they caused or will everything be forgotten in a week because no one died?" Bonnici asked on Facebook.
She demanded that citizens have every right to know who the persons responsible for this building collapse are, specifically, the responsible contractor and architect.
As Malta has witnessed yet another residential building fall apart in recent years, Bonnici asked her followers whether anyone cares about "us common people," or whether "money, contractors filling the pockets of politicians, lacking discipline, and dirty business reign in this country."
"Are we going to let my son and other victims in this sector die in vain?" she asked.
Similarly, Caroline Micallef - a woman who lost her home in Gwardamangia Hill in April, 2019, while construction work was taking place adjacent to her home - observed that "six years since our tragedy, we have learnt nothing."
Micallef wrote online, in a message directed towards the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), that "this danger to families should not exist."
She expressed that if we, as a country, continue to accommodate the rich, then families will continue to suffer the consequences as she did six years ago. In this sense, Micallef described that in such situations, not only will people losing their homes lose everything they've worked for, but working to rebuild their home requires going through the hassle of the Courts.
"Every time I see this, I am reminded of the big gaping wound that I still carry every day," Micallef said.