Government minimises risk of conflict at building watchdog by opting for retired person

Saviour Camilleri has been appointed chairperson of the Building and Construction Authority following the resignation of architect Maria Schembri Grima this week.

Camilleri is a retired draughtsman with little possibility of having a potential conflict of interest.

Schembri Grima, who is a practicing architect, resigned after the BCA issued a stop notice and fined a developer and contractor over shoddy demolition works on a project in Birkirkara for which she was the architect.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said earlier on Friday that Schembri Grima’s position at the authority had become untenable but ruled out the possibility of having full-time non-executive chairpersons for public authorities.

“The BCA chief executive is a full-timer and it is government direction to have executive posts that are full-time but having non-executive chairs engaged on a full-time basis will mean increasing their financial package significantly,” Abela said.

He added that the choice of Camilleri, who is retired, will help minimise the risk of conflict that may arise.

The Prime Minister also said that next month, government will be publishing a Bill for the regulation of contractors in a bid to professionalise the sector.