Who is ultimately responsible?

Tower cranes have become a common factor in our daily lives. Malta has been a permanent construction site for years. The word sustainable was eradicated from our vocabulary, even before we could begin to understand what it means.

In many instances, tower cranes have, in a positive way, replaced noisy, polluting telescopic hydraulic cranes but how safe are they? Ordinary cranes can be dismantled in less than 10 minutes but a tower crane remains on site for the duration of works and, at times, for weeks after the work has been completed.

They invade private air spaces and protrude on public spaces as if it were a given right. These past few days we have witnessed tropical storm winds and for those who had to bear the danger of having one of these cranes overshadowing their properties it was a series of sleepless nights contemplating on whether these cranes would hold their ground.

So where does the safety net lie? Are they safe? Do they have the right to sleep over your head? And what insurance cover are they bound with? These are a series of questions that independent engineers should answer. As it is, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is washing its hands on this matter so long as these cranes turn automatically in the direction of the wind!