Malta Developers’ Association president Sandro Chetcuti is urging construction workers with information on irregular practices in the building industry to speak out.

“If any workers are being subjected to unfair or illegal practices, then they can come to us, and we will take action,” Mr Chetcuti said.

He was reacting to a report in this newspaper that exposed the dark side of the island’s construction boom.

Read: The dark side of Malta’s construction boom

Workers who spoke to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity said that they were being forced to ‘babysit’ building sites, as developers were taking on too many projects at one go. This was resulting in deadlines not being met and construction workers having their wages docked illegally.

The practice has been reported to the Industrial Relations Department by a number of construction workers, and sources told this newspaper that the developers concerned were now being looked into.

Mr Chetcuti said, meanwhile, that he wanted to know what misbehaving developers were up to, to protect the image of honest operators.

A number of workers have flagged irregularities to him in the past, and he said the association had taken steps to ensure any wrongdoing was weeded out.

The construction workers who spoke to this newspaper provided payslips which showed that they were being paid several hundred euros less than they were owed every month.

Others spoke of employers who would threaten their workers’ “employability” if they took the matter to the authorities.

“Behind these buildings, behind your new apartment or your villa, there is us, and we are being exploited,” said one worker, who after exhausting his savings, could no longer afford to make his rent payments.

Mr Chetcuti said, meanwhile, it was time to take matters further.

He proposed that the authorities introduce a developers’ registry and licence.

This, he said, could be administered by the association or by a new entity which would keep developers in check.

Mr Chetcuti is suggesting that developers who are found to be in breach of the law or taking undue advantage of employees should be subject to a warning. After this, repeat offenders should be struck from the list and have their licences suspended, prohibiting them from beginning work on new developments.

“We cannot let a few cowboy developers give us all a bad name, and this is just a handful of smaller, new developers that refuse to get on board with the rules,” he said.

ivan.martin@timesofmalta.com