The Prime Minister has ordered all excavation and demolition work in Malta to be suspended.
Joseph Muscat made the announcement just hours after a wall collapsed at a house in Hamrun in the second such incident in less than a week and the third in two months.
He said that no more excavation work will be allowed until something is done and a way forward is agreed.
The latest incident inevitably pushed the government to take immediate action in a bid to ensure public safety.
The Prime Minister met stakeholders in the building industry, a meeting which was set up following the collapse of a building in Mellieha last week.