The Labour Party has appealed to the government to ensure that appropriate safety measures are in place during works to replace the pavement on the Cospicua seafront.
The lack of lighting and safety boundaries during the works, commissioned by the government, have caused a number of accidents which even left a woman in a coma in hospital, party spokesman for local governance Stefan Buontempo claimed in a press conference on site.
He said she took a fall and a couple of days later was taken to hospital in a coma. The incident was reported on Labour media two weeks ago.
The works on the pavement, part of the bigger government renovation project on Dock 1, are scheduled be completed in October.
But Mr Buontempo said this was looking impossible, especially after the works stopped for about two weeks during the summer.
Standing next to plastic orange boundary netting around the works, Mr Buontempo said the Labour Party agreed with the project, which would help regenerate the area, even though it was 17 years late.
“There is a huge lack of respect towards the community, residents and businesses…it all boils down to lack of planning and is creating chaos and a great inconvenience,” he said.
The residents had complained about lack of provisional parking and that they had no access to the band club, which was gated off, unless they used a roundabout way, which was very hard for the elderly, he added.
Also, there was drainage overflow and rats running around the road.
“The government is obliged to see that the works are completed on schedule and should be held responsible for any loss of business or injuries.”
Cospicua mayor Joe Scerri said the residents, especially the elderly, were suffering because of the government’s lack of planning for the area.
He also expressed concern that the problems would escalate with the onset of the scholastic year and the rainy season. The area would be flooded and blocked by traffic. “We will have chaos.”
Mr Scerri complained that the construction works made it hard for participants in the regatta races, which will take place tomorrow, to take their boats out of the warehouse where they were stored.
The health and safety authority issued a statement later saying the security and safety of workers and third parties was the responsibility of the client, the contractors and sub-contractors and their employees.
The client was obliged to appoint project supervisors to oversee that everything was according to law.
However, these supervisors did not remove the onus of responsibility from the client, it added.
“This is an important legal point as it means the client can’t brush off its responsibilities onto the supervisor or on anyone else.
“If the health and safety of workers or of passers-by is at risk, the client is obliged to take action for the project to go ahead with the least possible risk,” it said.
If the client failed to do so, then it would be breaking the law.
Without referring to this particular site, the authority said it immediately took action once it was informed, through the media, that people had been injured, ordering preventive measures to be taken.