Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1350550
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 MARCH 2021 INTERVIEW We are fighting for crumbs In a press release this week, the Association of Catering Estab- lishments – while welcoming the latest measures – argued that "a total lock down is not the way forward. Malta may control the pandemic with smart meas- ures." Do you still feel, then, that your sector has been treat- ed as (to quote a previous press release) a 'sacrificial lamb'? When we issued the first press release, a week ago, our associ- ation was… 'livid' is the word, I suppose. Bars had been closed since November, and kazini too – and the reaction to the latest surge was to extend the ban to restaurants as well: even though there was no apparent evidence that restaurants were, or are, a main contributor to the rise in cases. So yes, at the time we felt as though we were being singled out as 'sacrificial lambs'. But to fair – and also to quan- tify the positives with the nega- tives – a lot changed within 24 hours. The Minister for Tour- ism was very helpful: allocating 1k per establishment, to miti- gate the impact. And within five days, the wage supplement was restructured to help us weath- er this second storm. Because, as another commentator put this morning: all businesses at the moment - especially SMEs, which make up the bulk of our member associations – are basi- cally on life-support. That is the reality of the situation. We've been in this pandemic for a year; we are cash-flow de- pleted; we depend very much on the wage supplement, and on moratoria extensions… so the positive contribution from gov- ernment is clearly there. All the same, however: in both our press releases, we are ask- ing the health authorities to clarify whether there is any sci- entific evidence, that can be in- dependently validated, to prove that the spread is in fact happen- ing through restaurants. Because the information we are getting is that the largest chunk of con- tact-tracing, resulting in positive cases, is actually stemming from households. There may not be direct scien- tific evidence for restaurants contributing to the spread; but there is a widespread percep- tion that many catering estab- lishments were very casual in their application of the rules. From your own experience, how much truth is there to this? Let me put I this way: last year, we were closed down on March 9; and we re-opened on May 22. So basically, it was a lockdown lasting two months and three weeks. Since then, I would say that restaurants have managed to operate very successfully, for 10 months, within the health and safety parameters laid down by the regulations. There were, of course, a few en- forcement issues here and there. But then, you have to elaborate what the problem actually was. Tables being 2.7 metres apart, rather than three metres, is one thing; people literally dancing on tables, is another. One of the things we found most frustrating was that – when the 'cowboys' were mentioned (not to refer to any specific es- tablishment by name) – rather than being made an example of, they were left to operate. And in the long run, all establishments ended up paying the price. So ba- sically, the lack of enforcement, in those 10 months, resulted in an impact on the entire sector. But in their majority, I would say that restaurants abided law- fully by the guidelines. So much so, that contact-tracing didn't result in any particular spike associated with any one specif- ic restaurant. And even those 'cowboys' I mentioned earlier… when you boil it all down, it only amounted to around 20 estab- lishments, out of a total of 4,000. You say that restaurants 'oper- ated successfully'… but how do the last 10 months really com- pare with the pre-COVID years? If you had to quantify the impact of the pandemic on your sector: how seriously has it been af- fected? When I used the word 'suc- cessfully', I was referring to the The COVID-19 pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on the restaurant, entertainment and leisure industries. Yet for some, it has remained 'business as usual'. MATTHEW PACE, secretary of the Association of Catering Establishments, calls for more 'understanding' in view of the crisis PHOTO: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTATODAY Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt