Building site inspections in Gżira, St Julians and Sliema reveal majority had irregularities

Inspections of construction sites in Gżira and St Julian’s have revealed that a vast majority are in breach of regulations, MaltaToday has learnt.

Official data shows that 63% and 67% of building sites in Gżira and St Julian’s respectively had some form of irregularity flagged by inspectors over the past two weeks.

Inspections were conducted by officials from the Planning Authority and Building Regulations Office as part of an effort to clamp down on construction site abuse.

Figures for the week between 9 June and 15 June show that inspectors visited 64 sites in Gżira, of which 40 had irregularities. During the same period, 41 of the 61 construction sites inspected in St Julian’s had infringements.

In Sliema, inspectors flagged irregularities in 18 of the 43 sites visited. This means that 42% of building sites in Sliema had some form of irregularity.

The three localities were the first to be targeted by inspectors as part of a wider effort announced earlier this month to inspect construction sites across Malta and Gozo. Developers have been given two weeks to correct the irregularities.

The results of the first inspections did not come as a surprise for the mayors of Gżira and St Julian’s, who have had to contend with residents’ complaints at a time of intensive construction work.

Gżira mayor Conrad Borg Manche

Gżira mayor, Conrad Borg Manche, told MaltaToday that with multiple construction sites cropping up across his town, the problems have become those of a whole locality and not limited to a street or two.

“I am not at all surprised with the findings because the council has been receiving many complaints from residents over abusive work practices in construction sites that are having a bad effect on people’s health, their property and public infrastructure,” Borg Manche said.

He praised the inspections, noting that developers had started to be more careful. However, he did receive a couple of phone calls from developers complaining that inspectors were picking on them.

“I have insisted with developers they have no option but to comply and work diligently so as to reduce the inconvenience on neighbours. Sometimes I harbour the feeling that some developers act as they do to force residents to sell their home and move out,” Borg Manche said.

St Julians mayor Guido Dalli

St Julian’s mayor Guido Dalli said his council had three wardens patrolling the streets, who were also tasked to flag construction site irregularities. Most of the abuse he said was linked to inadequate hoarding and scaffolding that is not screened, or pavements that are broken or blocked.

“I am not surprised by the findings but I also have to add that we do find cooperation from most developers when we flag problems,” Dalli said.

The figures show that from the 168 sites inspected in Gżira, St Julian’s and Sliema, 59% had some form of irregularity.

There were 59 instances of lack of netting or screening on scaffolding and 44 cases of “missing or damaged” pavements.

Another 24 cases involved inadequate or missing hoarding, while 11 irregularities concerned “injury to amenity”.

Inspectors also flagged one instance of construction work being carried out on a Sunday.

Some of the sites had more than one irregularity.

The inspections started after Gżira councillor, Jeremy Cardona, was almost run over by a developer, an incident which prompted the council to call a protest, earlier this month.