Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar is calling on politicians to “abandon their lofty rhetoric” and tackle under-regulated crane operations.
In a statement, the environmental group said that following the tower crane collapse opposite the Sacred Heart school a few days ago FAA was imploring politicians to tackle head-on this major concern which undermined residents’ right to peaceful possession to their property.
Despite its past pleas, FAA said, crane operations were still under-regulated.
“It is well known that most cranes operating in Malta, including the whole range of tower, wheel-mounted, truck-mounted, overhead, crawler, loader and telescopic cranes, are bought cheaply in Europe once they are no longer considered serviceable there.
“Although they are supposed to be checked and certified by professionals every six months, one wonders how this certification is issued for some cranes which are clearly in a very poor state and pose a real danger to human life and property,” it said.
FAA said the situation was aggravated by the fact that no checks were made on whether the cranes were well assembled on site.
Certificates giving date of manufacture of the crane and safety certificates from abroad were not required to be submitted to any authority and crane operators’ only requirement was a truck driving licence.
“Enforcement is as yet unheard of, and the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (Ohsa), responsible for such checks, is still severely undermanned to tackle the great amount of building sites all over the island while incrimination of unscrupulous and unprofessional practice is as yet non-existent.”
Legislation covering cranes which were predominantly assembled and operated in densely habitable areas was sketchy, at best.
And although OHSA, in conjunction with the Chamber of Engineers, held regular training courses for crane operators, the onus for the safe operation of the crane fell under the project supervisor’s responsibility.
But this legislation only directed the responsible party to minimise risk. The crane operators were also subject to a code of practice, but failure to comply was not an offence.
FAA said that existing regulations which referred to crane usage were not specific and assigned legal responsibilities to several players.
“This creates several loopholes which have left families of tragic victims such as those of the Cathedral Street house collapse nine years ago, still chasing proceedings in court, with no conclusion or closure in sight,” it said.