The Council of the Kamra tal-Periti and the Executive Council of the Planning Authority award the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award to Perit Joseph Bugeja, in recognition of a career of more than half a century that has shaped Malta’s relationship with the sea.

A graduate in civil engineering of 1970, Perit Bugeja first led the civil engineering works of Malta International Airport, where his projects included the Dingli radar station dome and the Safi aircraft hangar. In 1988 he joined the Malta Freeport, serving as the Perit responsible for the reclamation of Terminal 2: thirty hectares won from the sea, and among the most significant reclamation projects ever undertaken in Malta. He went on to lead the Freeport as General Manager from 1997 to 2004, helping to build one of the cornerstones of the national economy.

Over the past quarter of a century, he has played an engineering role in most of Malta’s marine projects, as perit, engineering representative or design consultant. His pioneering work in marine and geotechnical engineering has set standards for a field in which Malta, as an island, has everything at stake.

The two Councils also recognise his generosity in passing that knowledge on. Since 2014, he has lectured in marine civil engineering structures at the University of Malta, ensuring that a new generation of periti inherits not only his expertise, but his rigour.

For building with the sea, rather than against it, and for a lifetime of service to the profession and to the country, the two Councils are proud to honour Perit Joseph Bugeja.