We have finally entered the post-pandemic period.
We have dreamt about this for a long time and the last two years have not been easy for anyone, including those of us in the property business.
Although next to other eco nomic sectors, our indus- – try has proved, once again, to be resilient, we still cannot say that the last two years have been the best we have had. Some areas of our business, particularly the rental and the office space market have suffered, and we have seen a significant downturn. However, finally everything comes to an end, and we are looking forward to turning the page. Now that we are again seeing the first green shoots of an economic recovery, our most important hurdle is to make sure that we cultivate and grow our sector as strongly as possible, without excess and in a sustainable way.
We now have the possibility to have a fresh start and the MDA is turning this into an opportunity to correct some past issues, and explore and introduce new working methods which will make our industry better and stronger.
The first issue which we are tackling head-on is bureaucracy. Although some of the latter is important and unavoidable, most of the bureaucracy we still have in Malta, particularly where it comes to government services, needs to be lessened, cut down to size and even eliminated once and for all. This is stifling growth and is limiting out potential to expand further.
The first issue which we are tackling head-on is bureaucracy
The MDA believes that particularity when cost of raw material is rising, relieving unnecessary costs ought to be prioritised upon. Eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy is one such factor which would increase productivity and cost efficiency of the industry’s back-office departments at large.
It can’t be that whenever one of our members goes to a government department to apply for a licence, he is asked to start the whole process of getting all the other necessary documents from scratch. This doesn’t make sense, more so when most of the documents needed are either stored in some other government department or database which is not integrated with the rest of the government system.
The same applies for other things. A case in point is some funding schemes administered by Malta Enterprise. They are so bureaucratic and costly that it may not be worth doing the effort to apply. They simply give up. This should also be solved.
Duplication is costly, laborious and a real waste of time. Our employees should be able to do much more productive work than spend days working the phones trying to collect documents! We have been insisting for years on the need to lessen bureaucracy, and far more can yet be done. The MDA feels that now is the right time to re-start.
The PA has a state-of-the-art IT system … which is today the benchmark of where we need to go
During the past weeks we have already had several meetings with various authorities, including the new Minister of Public Works and Planning the Hon. Dr Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi over this issue. We were assured that a reform is in the pipeline, and we shall be insisting on seeing this coming into concrete fruition
We deem that the government should further its leading by example in this sector and invest heavily in IT systems which eliminate bureaucracy once and for all.
The MDA is all for development, but everything must be done within the rules
What has happened in the past at the Planning Authority must be followed across the rest of the government. The PA has a state-of-the-art IT system – which cost millions – and which is today the benchmark of where we need to go. It is high time that we move on in this direction and continue putting our money where our mouth is.
This also applies to the further regularisation of the industry. It cannot be that in this day and age, where the building industry plays such an important part in Malta’s economic activity, we still have an unregulated sector, particularly where it comes to contractors.
The MDA has been actively working for years to push for more regularisation of the industry. Unfortunately, the pace has been slow, despite the good intentions. We have helped and gave our technical expertise to set up the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). Now we need it to move faster.
While we know through our work that the overwhelming majority of contractors from across the board are doing their utmost to respect the rules, use good practices and observe third party rights, there are still a few ‘cowboys’ who give a bad name to the industry. This cannot be allowed to go on and we have been harping on the need for more concrete action by the authorities for a great while.
The BCA is now set up and there are no more excuses. We are working hand in hand with them to devise new rules and regulations which will be coming out soon. Those who are already in line with the law and work diligently should have no problem in obtaining a licence to operate. On the other hand, those who are not in line should either put their house in order or conduct business in something else. We cannot afford to have more incidents like the ones we have had in the past which could have been easily avoided.
The MDA is all for development, but everything must be done within the rules. We have total respect for neighbours and third parties as we have shown through the Safer Neighbourhood Scheme.
no demolition and excavation works will be allowed during the summer months in most touristic areas. This must be respected to the letter
This was such a success that the government took it over and made it its own through a legislative process. This is how we intend to keep moving in the months and years to come and these are the type of rules we need to insist upon. It is time to move on even in this area. We believe that the next few months, and particularly the coming summer, will be crucial for the way our future is to develop.
Tourism is on the recovery and many of our members have vested interests in this area which we want to see growing further. Operators tell us that this summer should be a good one even though seat capacity is still a problem.
Despite the unfortunate ongoings in the Ukraine, our tourism prospects look strong, and we must ensure that our product is top-notch so that this industry can continue to prosper.
We, as usual, are doing our part in this area as no demolition and excavation works will be allowed during the summer months in most touristic areas. This must be respected to the letter, and we will not tolerate any abuse. We trust that any enforcement which may be required would be consistent and effective.
Sustainability is the key of our future and applies to all areas. If we want to continue prospering, we must do so consciously and conscientiously, with an executable plan and without any overlapping. If we don’t, we will be killing the goose that lays the golden egg.
I am sure that the MDA and its members, as always, will rise to the occasion and make sure that the first green shoots of an economic recovery we are seeing will flourish into a yet stronger, healthier and more sustainable future.
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