Dozens of contractors have complained about a proposal to bar heavy vehicles from the roads during the rush hour, Malta Developers’ Association president Sandro Chetcuti said.

“We have literally been bombarded with e-mails and phone calls over the past few days from dozens of contractors complaining about this idea,” he said.

Mr Chetcuti was reacting to a suggestion in a recent White Paper on rush hour traffic, which floats the idea of removing heavy vehicles from roads during peak congestion times.

The suggestion does not delve into how this would work as the consultation document is mostly based on traffic solutions linked to schools.

Mr Chetcuti said the MDA had written to Transport Malta asking for a meeting to express developers’ reservations on the heavy vehicle restriction idea. This, he said, would have serious repercussions on the industry.

“It simply won’t work. Construction can’t begin before the morning traffic; we start as early as legally permissible. It can’t go on into the evening either, so what are we supposed to do? Miss out on several hours of work,” he said.

Mr Chetcuti added that certain “time sensitive” material, such as concrete, could not be taken to a construction site and left there until the workers arrived.