Change in excavation times won't help residents without proper enforcement – St Julian’s mayor

The change in excavation and demolition times won't really help residents without proper enforcement, St Julian's mayor Albert Buttigieg has said.

The mayor fears that if enforcement isn’t taken seriously, the change won’t really have an effect, while indicating certain other problems that the change will create. He called for stronger and quicker enforcement when it comes to the construction sector

and for councils to be assigned wardens who respond directly to them rather than other entities.

Government recently announced that the hours during which excavation and demolition works can now take place have changed and such work is now only permissible between 7.30am and 4pm, instead of between 8am and 2pm and between 4 and 8pm as it was before.

This newsroom contacted the St Julian's mayor, whose council oversees an area in Malta which sees many construction projects, to see what he thought of the change.

"The change in excavation and demolition time is something the developers have long been asking for," Buttigieg said. "They used to question what their employees would stay doing between 2 and 4pm and were saying that they were wasting money because of it. The reason why the times have changed was not so much for the residents.”

"We had asked for the time change not to affect the morning hours as it did, but rather to start later." The mayor said that he did not want excavation and demolition to be allowed from 7.30am, but rather that such works start later, from 8.15am for instance.

The earlier start creates other issues, such as traffic, the mayor said, adding that when such works require large trucks to be filled with material, roads would sometimes be blocked and it would cause havoc on our roads as people during that time would be on their way to work.

"In reality, not even the 7.30am starting point would likely be honoured. It would not be the first time that we would receive a complaint that works started at 6.30am."

Enforcement is another problem according to the mayor. "If someone starts works before the allowed

time or is doing something that isn't right, it can sometimes be problematic to get through to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and when you do, they ask for the application number, which many a time a person would not know. Sometimes the application notice would even be removed from the site. If you have that information, they would say an inspector would come, but that inspector would arrive hours later."

"We need strong and quick enforcement. We need to hold people accountable. If they break the law and nobody says anything, then they will continue breaking the law. If they are fined and have their license suspended, they would not repeat it."

“We need wardens dedicated to local councils. Whether it is to deal with garbage issues, noise, construction... we depend on the mercy of other entities. These other entities are either too busy, don't make it on time or would not take the necessary steps. The minister then says that local councils are local governments... what entity could be called a government when it cannot exert control over its own area?"

"The change in time won't really change anything, as experience has shown us that some developers would keep going on with works if they still have work to do, like cowboys, at least that was our experience with the way things happened under the Building and Construction Authority’s predecessor, the Building Regulation Office. Before and after the allowed hours, the BCA offices would be closed. The police would say they have too much to do or that it wouldn't fall under their remit and LESA wardens would not be working at those times, so I fear they will just ignore the regulations if there isn't proper enforcement."