Construction sites in Buġibba and St Paul’s Bay are causing undue hardship to neighbours due to the poor enforcement of laws.

The construction drive that Malta is currently experiencing is having repercussions on the quality of life of residents in various localities across the island.

In recent weeks, the Times of Malta has been inundated with calls from residents in the Qawra, Buġibba and St Paul’s Bay areas, complaining of a total lack of enforcement by the authorities on building rules and the way construction works are meant to be carried out.

Residents described road infrastructure, particularly pavements, as a “complete mess”, asking whether there was any hope that one day they might walk in their neighbourhoods safely.

“In Buġibba, we are living in hell,” one resident complained.

“Cranes and ready-mix concrete trucks are everywhere, and pavements are being left broken or non-existent, with people falling and getting injured on a daily basis,” a resident in Għajn Rażul Street claimed.

No one is enforcing and it’s like a free-for-all. As a council, we complain almost on a daily basis

A resident living in St John the Baptist Street complained that in many cases, new buildings were being left abandoned or unfinished for months on end, with pavements left broken or incomplete and building material abandoned on the streets.

“The worse thing is that the areas are then turned into dumping sites,” said a 42-year-old resident.

When contacted, St Paul’s Bay mayor Graziella Galea acknowledged the problem and said that despite the council’s insistence with the authorities that the laws should be enforced, nothing was being done.

“There seems to be a problem of enforcement, and of making sure that if contractors break pavements, they have to restore them once a project is over,” she explained.

“According to the law, during construction, contractors need to provide a safe and alternative pavement. Despite the law, no one is enforcing and it’s like a free-for-all. As a council, we also complain on the situation almost on a daily basis,” Ms Galea said.

It is up to the Planning Authority to enforce building rules and see that building contractors are observing the law.

Asked to state what is being done by its enforcement officers about these continuous breaches, the Planning Authority had not replied by the time of writing.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com