Justice for JeanPaul Sofia
It has now been almost three weeks since the lifeless body of 20-year-old JeanPaul Sofia was recovered from the debris of a construction site.
The incident, which had happened on 4 December and which had left Sofia dead and another six people in hospital, presented a stark reminder that enforcement on the construction industry remains severely lacking, and that it remains something of a free-for-all.
Sofia was killed eight minutes after walking into a building which was still being built at the Corradino Industrial Estate.
CCTV footage showed how the three-storey building effectively folded in on itself. Something clearly went wrong. A building, even one under construction, does not simply collapse for no reason.
The question that must be asked is, why has nobody been charged over this incident yet?
The police – to their credit – are usually swift in charging those allegedly responsible where deaths are involved, and usually work in the most efficient manner in dealing with such incidents. However, in this case, it’s been almost three weeks and we have yet to hear even a whimper of what is being done in order for whoever is responsible to face justice.
One augurs that this is because the police are ensuring that they have a case which is as watertight as possible, and that justice for Sofia’s most untimely death will be done.
There is another side to justice beyond the police which must be considered though. True justice for Sofia’s death is if regulations are changed sufficiently in order for such an incident to never be able to happen again.
That would have been true justice for Miriam Pace as well, but alas here we are two years later discussing the death of another innocent bystander in a construction collapse.
A legal notice was announced last week which aims to decrease the environmental impact of construction, as well as increase the rights of the third parties bordering on construction sites. It also handed over construction site management to the Building Construction Authority – an authority which has appeared to be largely toothless.
It doesn’t help that its chairperson also happens to be the architect for one of the island’s biggest developers - Joseph Portelli. It seems that even here we are oblivious to the concept of conflicts of interest.
One again we can only augur and hope that the BCA will be well supported, and will have the willingness to truly enforce proper construction practices.
Only then can we have full and proper justice for JeanPaul Sofia.