Abela said the reform will not weaken the industry but rather increases its sustainability.
“We have to accept that we need to raise standards, and walk away from old practices,” he said.
The Labour leader said that while developers must be understood and incentivised, government’s priority must be that of protecting the safety of people in their households.
Such a priority, he said is shown in the proposals being forwarded, such as the right to employ an architect if a development is being carried out on neighbouring plots. The expenses would be forked out by the developers themselves.
He also said the new authority will be tasked with handling people’s complaints.
Malta has registered 143 new cases of COVID-19 overnight and 201 recoveries.
Three women aged 92, 93 and 100, died while positive with COVID-19. The death toll from the virus now stands at 248.
The seven-day moving average of new cases now stands at 172 cases per day, Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci said on Friday in her weekly pandemic update. This represents a slight drop from the previous week.
The number of vaccines administered until yesterday stood at 16,531. Gauci said 616 people had received both doses of the vaccine so far. The second dose started being administered earlier this week.
Gauci said 179 people were being treated in hospitals for COVID-19.
Days after many people – including this newsroom – called for Malta to start publishing its daily COVID-19 vaccination numbers, the island’s health authorities did so. However, a problematic reality could soon be unfurling with this latest statistic… and it’s either an innocent oversight or a dangerous move towards government-sanctioned spin.
During her weekly press conference last Friday, Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci promised that Malta would start publishing its daily vaccination numbers. On Monday, that pledge materialised in a new, redesigned version of Saħħa’s daily updates.
And while details on at least some of the newest infections disappearing, the page had added information on the daily deaths and the total number of vaccinations up to the previous day.
[WATCH] No general election until electoral manifesto is implemented, Robert Abela says
Prime Minister Robert Abela insists on government’s intentions to implement its 2017 general election manifesto in its entirety
10 January 2021, 12:41pm
by Karl Azzopardi
The Prime Minister Robert Abela has said that a general election will not be called until the Labour Party’s electoral manifesto is fully implemented.
The Labour leader, who was addressing a political event in Mellieha on Sunday, looked back at his achievements one year on from becoming the country’s PM following Joseph Muscat’s resignation in December 2019.
Abela played down rumours that he would be calling a general election early this year, insisting government looks to fulfil its promises with the electorate.
[WATCH] COVID-19: 191 new cases, two deaths registered
COVID-19 update for 8 January | 2 deaths • 191 new cases, 77 recoveries • 2,047 active cases • Swab tests past 24 hours 3,639
8 January 2021, 12:22pm
by Karl Azzopardi / Laura Calleja
Public health superintendent Charmaine Gauci
Active cases stand at 2,047, after two deaths were registered. Total cases stand at 13,967.
The country has once again reached the 2,000 active cases mark for the first time since the beginning of December.
The first death was an 84-year-old woman who was confirmed positive on 25 December, and died at Mater Dei Hospital on Friday.
The second death was a 77-year-old woman who was confirmed positive on 20 December and dies at the Saint Vincent de Paule residence on Friday.