Sofia inquiry Cabinet committee meets for first time

The Cabinet committee tasked with implementing the Sofia Inquiry recommendations held its first meeting on Friday.

The committee will be implementing the inquiry recommendations published on Friday.

The board is composed on Justice Minister Jonathan Attard, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, Planning Minister Clint Camilleri, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri and is coordinated by prime minister’s head of secretariat Glenn Micallef.

The committee was announced by Prime Minister Robert Abela in his first press conference after the inquiry’s publication on Wednesday.

The report exposed regulatory failures across the board from the state authorities tasked with regulating the sector.

In its report, the Inquiry Board heavily criticised the relevant construction authorities for failing to take responsibility for the case.

“No one [...] assumed even the slightest bit of responsibility for what happened. As far as the Board is aware, no one bothered to ask ‘why didn’t we conduct a single inspection on this site?’”

The Board also questioned why Malta Enterprise and INDIS Malta did not conduct a site visit of their own, even though the site was contractually set to be finished by October 2021.

“The Board empathises with the family’s argument that, if any of these two entities took steps to relinquish the contract due to this breach, which is what happened after the accident, maybe the accident would have been avoided.”

The report has also seen a number of agency chair stepping down from their role.

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