It is true that the Maltese economy seems prospering and not only everyone is finding work but Malta is managing to attact many foreign workers. Does this mean that we should not bother about anything else and be reassured that everything is doing well?
The fact that many people are comingto Malta, both as tourists and as workers, is creating a need for a lot of accommodation and other infrastucture, such as roads, hospitals, schools,etc. Roadworks to prevent traffic congestion are a never ending story.
The need for more buildings is so much that building prices in Malta are now amoung the highest in the world. Young couples who want to raise a family are having to borrow up to their ears to buy a small flat. To pay for their debt these young couples have to work their entire lives so that when they retire they would have redeemed it.
Everywhere is being built and so many new roads are constructed while already existing roads widened, that the countryside is rapidly diminishing. Even fields which are so necessary for farmers to grow vegetables for everyday use are rapidly disappearing. This is making us increasingly dependent on importing even the food we eat every day.
This is a vicious circle. The more we import, the higher life becomes. This further increases the price of food. Pay is no longer enough and the worker, through his union, charges higher pay. Higher wages continue to raise our production price and this may mean that we are no longer competitive with other countries that do not have to import everything from abroad like us.
The new president, Myriam Spiteri Debono, has just made an appeal to keep the agricultural land from declining. Contractors, who are increasingly seeing opportunities for them to make more money, are always increasingly applying for permits to continue building. The first time they apply they may not be granted a permit, but try today and try tomorrow, they are finally granted permission and what we call ODZ (Outside Development Zone) is constantly decreasing.
The problem does not stop there. There need for more buildings has increased so much that, in the rush not enough attention is given to see that it is done properly. This gives rise to increased accidents on the place of work, as well as cases of faulty buildings which may result in death, such as is the case of Jean Paul Sofia who died so young and whose mother made a crusade to see that the building sector is reformed so that these fatal accidents do not happen again, ensuring that at least her son’s death would not have been useless.
Let’s strive to re-instil seriousness in the building industry. Malta still has serious builders who do a good job. Let us see that we do not allow contractors to make easy money by employing incapable people. As the Maltese saying goes, one who makes use of cheap products will finally find that he has paid more than if he bought the right product for the job. We are seeing how sourly we are paying for these few contractors whose only preoccupation is to get rich quickly.
Saviour Buttigieg
Secretary
