It is the duty of regulatory authorities to ensure foreign workers brought to Malta for jobs carried out by foreign contractors are not subjected to unacceptable conditions that would also give them an unfair advantage, the Malta Developers' Association warned on Thursday.

In a statement in the wake of reports started in Times of Malta about the workers being housed in mobile homes in quarries, the MDA said all workers, irrespective of nationality, and employed in the construction industry in Malta should have the same rights and conditions.

READ: Turkish workers moved into quarry sleeping compound

"Accommodation for such workers should be of a good standard that is acceptable in a modern European state and that such accommodation should be adequately serviced with water, electricity and drainage services," the association said.   

It also called on the Ministry of Finance to ensure that foreign contractors in Malta were subject to the same level of taxation that Maltese contractors are obliged to observe.

Times of Malta reported that dozens of Turkish employees, working for TACA Construction, are reported to already be living on site, housed in a former residence in the same quarry and now turned into a number of small bedrooms.

However, due to an influx of more workers expected to arrive in the coming months, a large area in the Mqabba quarry is now being turned into a ‘small village’ to host the foreign workers.