Residents of Birkirkara Road in St Julian’s said they were kept awake from 11.30pm to 3.30am for two nights last week.

A building contractor was allowed to operate heavy machinery well into the early hours last week, keeping St Julian’s residents awake for two nights.

Residents of Birkirkara Road said they were informed it was Transport Malta that had issued the permit for works to be done at night to maintain the flow of traffic, since the area was close to the Kappara junction, where works are under way.

One of the residents, environmental law lecturer Antoine Grima, told the Times of Malta this not only showed lack of planning by the authorities but also proved residents’ welfare was ignored.

He argued that rules and guidelines on construction activities in residential areas had to be urgently revised and, if need be, modified.

“Residents’ welfare must be given top priority. They must have their mind at rest that their health is safeguarded in all respects,” Dr Grima said.

The road in question was closed for workers to be able to remove debris from a construction site on Thursday and Friday between 11.30pm and 3.30am.

To the residents’ disappointment, apart from the noise emanating from the site, large, noisy trucks carrying the debris made their way up and down the road on both nights.

Dr Grima said that when he contacted the Building Regulations Office, he was informed that both Transport Malta and the local council had given the contractor the green light.

In extreme cases, where no other ways are available, should residents not be given prior notice to perhaps allow them to plan ahead and make alternative arrangements?

He said he was not told whether the BRO had itself issued permits for the works to be carried out at night. He remarked that, it being a tourist area, permission should have also been sought from the tourism authorities.

Dr Grima was critical of the lack of communication with residents, who he insisted were not informed that the works would be done at night.

“In extreme cases, where no other ways are available, should residents not be given prior notice to perhaps allow them to plan ahead and make alternative arrangements?” he commented.

Dr Grima called for monitoring and enforcement at construction sites to be stepped up, especially when these were close to residential areas. Dust and noise needed to be better monitored, he added.

“Decision makers may be continuously faced with individual requests to grant permission to deviate from regulations, and it seems the situation is not looked upon holistically.

“They do not seem to appreciate the cumulative effect the approval of these individual requests has in certain areas. It is residents that eventually will have to bear the brunt of the activities carried out during the day and now at night, too,” Dr Grima said.

The complaints about the St Julian’s works come less than a week after a similar situation in taż-Żokkrija, Mosta. There, residents say, a lack of enforcement at a massive construction site turned the area into “a complete mess”, with rubbish and debris at every corner.