‘Make hay while the sun shines’ MDA president tells buddies

“Make hay while the sun shines,” Malta Developers Association president Sandro Chetcuti told members at the MDA’s fifth anniversary on Saturday evening. “There is once again a boom in the property industry for whoever is working properly, developing sustainably and for whoever follows the rules and directives that are being imposed on us by the European Union.”

They were words which captured the essence the thrust the Labour government has given to the construction industry in its economic vision since it was elected.

Among the guests at the Excelsior hotel were Cabinet ministers, MPs from both sides of the House, sponsors, partners and the media.

Chetcuti said that the MDA started five years ago in a climate in which the industry was in a precarious situation. “The world was in the depths of the financial crisis and we were being told to diversify because the construction industry and the property market were saturated and there was no room for further progress. But we were not discouraged.”

But Chetcuti also had a word of warning: “Don’t take things for granted. Let us continue to keep our feet on the ground. Damage is repaired slowly and it can be suffered very quickly. Our association today enjoys the respect of both the main large political parties in the country that are instrumental in delivering the policy that directs the economy ahead. If our industry slows down, everything follows.”

MDA President Sandro Chetcuti paid tribute to the vision and commitment of “18 entrepreneurs” who originally gathered at his house in 2010 and drew up a statute that enabled the dream of a representative body for the construction industry to become a reality.

Chetcuti paid tribute to the MDA’s first president, Michael Falzon, as the “association’s compass, who set us on our direction and controlled my unbounded enthusiasm.”

Chetcuti also concluded with an appeal to the young members of the association – which now numbers over 300 members – to come forward and give their contribution to support the committee. He hinted that the time had come for him to make way for others: “I feel we have arrived and grown, and I feel that the time will soon come when I take a back seat.

“It is a marvellous thing when you are giving a contribution on a national scale. We have learned how to lobby and negotiate with the government. Without being partisan, I must admit that this administration understood clearly the need and the importance of the building industry.

“Sometimes we agreed, sometimes we disagreed, but many of the MDA’s proposals were taken on board in Budget after Budget, so that today thankfully business is healthy and we believe that in the next five years it is going to continue to be positive,” Chetcuti said.