Many of us have seen on the news the harrowing pictures of the fire which engulfed a high-rise building in London. From what I have heard, this started on the second floor and rapidly moved upwards leaving occupants in the upper floors no means of escape, as I have not read about fire escapes (which used to be compulsory in apartment blocks) being available.

With all these high-rises being proposed in Malta, has the Panning Authority taken into consideration how such a tragedy would be averted, if the same thing happened in one of these? We all know that instructions are always there that lifts should not be used in case of fire, but if a curse is moving up the stairwell, there is literally no means of escape.

The London fire is in a tower of 24 floors, some of the ones proposed here are higher.

So far the number of confirmed deceased is 12; however reading reports, it is pretty obvious this is going to be much higher.

It is about time that all permits for these luxury slums – they may be beautiful inside, but all we can see are very ugly boxes with precious little room between them – are completely banned, if not in the name of aesthetics and a further overcrowding of our small island, at least in the name of safety.