More construction woes for Sliema with removal of tariffs
A legal notice has removed charges imposed by local councils on the placement of scaffolding around construction projects.
Previously, councils charged a daily fee of €2.33 per square metre of hoarding in a construction site.
A government spokesperson said the reason for the removal of the fee was that the erection of boundary walls for construction purposes was “an inherent requisite for safety purposes.”
But Sliema’s Green Party councillor Michael Briguglio insists the removal of tariffs will encourage contractors to install hoarding for long periods of time, blocking roads and pavements and creating difficulties to pedestrians, especially the elderly, disabled and people with push chairs.
“With MEPA’s poor track-record in enforcement, we can only expect more cases of hoarding, and more inconveniences for Sliema residents,” he said.
Examples of such hoarding cited by Briguglio are the tower crane in St Paul’s Street, which has blocked the street, and the scaffolding in front of the small chapel in High Street, which is dangerously prohibiting people from using the pavement.
The government is now insisting councils can only impose a daily charge of €2.33 a day for the placement of cranes.
Such a minor charge was admittedly too little, junior minister Chris Said had told sister newspaper Illum: “barely enough to cover the council’s telephone expenses and the cost of wardens supervising these sites.”
Michael Briguglio said the small fee will only encourage contractors to keep their cranes installed for a long time on Sliema’s narrow roads.
The legal notice also exempts government and EU projects from paying fees on the deposit of building material next to construction sites.
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