Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1418273
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 OCTOBER 2021 NEWS ed animal welfare com- missioner Alison Bezzina, claiming he would oust her from her political post if she makes a move against his zoo. The Arka ta' Noe owner was reacting to comments by Bezzina who stated that zoos were "not ideal" but that she would treat the sit- uation as it stands and pro- mote other forms of legisla- tion. Cutajar later publicly apologised for his rant. cannabis it is selling, because the cultivation and sale of large amounts of cannabis are still illegal under current laws. The café's front door is always open... but it's the 'back door' that is closed. So in 2005, the European Co- alition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD) pro- posed a system to allow the le- gal production and distribution of cannabis, similar to the one the Maltese government hopes to introduce in its proposed law. Regulation through cannabis clubs is based on four princi- ples: 1. non-commercial basis, 2. a closed membership format, 3. Professional and collective cultivation and 4. a limited vol- ume of marijuana. The cannabis club sector has grown exponentially in Spain, with over 200 clubs in Barce- lona alone, and roughly 400 across the whole country. Swit- zerland also joined the trend in 2016, and allowed the launch of pilot cannabis clubs in four cities – Bern, Zurich, Basel and Geneva. The non-commercial ap- proach by cannabis clubs has a number of benefits over the Dutch model. For starters, the primary goal of producers in the commercial market is that of generating the highest pos- sible profits, which is more readily achieved by maximising consumption and encouraging the initiation of new users. But this requires a more rig- orous regulatory system that minimises profit-motivated ef- forts. The club model address- es this concern, because the relatively closed membership system limits availability and reduces the potential for new, and typically young, users to get into cannabis use. It can also serve as a transi- tional model which helps in es- tablishing social norms around cannabis consumption. Still, despite clubs being barred from turning a profit, the sharp increase in clubs in Spain has led to concerns that they are turning away from their non-commercial ethos. Reports that certain clubs in Barcelona now have thou- sands of members, as a result of less stringent regulation, also allowing the admission of tourists, have raised concerns about how to keep the system in check. There is simply the need to get the balance right – if the intro- duced system and legislation are too restrictive, consumers will turn to the black market, meaning the government's aim of fighting illegality is not met. On the other hand, if regula- tion is too lax, the public health aspect and concerns raised by professionals would be totally ignored. There might not be a perfect solution, but govern- ment has to balance priorities and through informed respon- sible decisions, see what works and amend what doesn't. Current submitted block plan additional interventions carried out on site despite concerns raised by ERA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 These employees had NI deducted from their wage but only realised now when they reached retirement age that these were not credited towards their pension. Gerada, who was CEO in that period, did not reply to questions sent to him by the UĦM portal. However, in his email to board mem- bers Gerada defended his decision not to speak to the media, insisting he was left in the dark and the matter was being tackled by the ministry. Gerada's explanation suggests that he only became aware of the situation when he himself reached retirement age and was informed that he had missing NI contributions. However, it appears he failed to flag the matter to higher authorities despite having been CEO during the period un- der scrutiny. "I was one of the employ- ees and got a taste of this when I retired and was told that I had some contribu- tions missing but when I presented my papers to the department, they acknowl- edged the mistake and that they would rectify it. They did and case was closed. I did not know that others were affected except one other person who had simi- lar difficulty but who also had it rectified with the department," Gerada wrote in his email. He also offered a possible explanation to the problem by suggesting it could have been an administrative mistake "by a payroll clerk" who used "wrong refer- ences when sending the contributions to the department". "I believe that NI payments were made regularly otherwise they would show in the accounts in terms of high liquidity. The mistake was not corrected in time as no manager probably had checked the numbers, no external auditor ever pointed it out and not even the Govern- ment auditor ever flagged it. Also, the social security department never flagged it either," Gerada said. On Friday, the government said the sit- uation will be rectified and in an email to all employees, CEO Alfred Grixti in- formed them that no one will lose out on their pension. In a subsequent statement, the senior management team at FSWS under Grix- ti's helm distanced itself from the prob- lems between 2000 and 2007. "During this period, none of the Senior Management Team currently in posi- tion were responsible for social security contributions. The Senior Management Team assures all workers who were em- ployed with FSWS at that time, that any missing national contribution payments will be rectified in the shortest possible time," the statement read. Management also expressed "full soli- darity" with all affected employees and "regrets this ever happened". It said the agency has invested heavily in mechanisms to maintain the highest standards of good governance. An inves- tigation into the matter is under way. ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Missing NI payments: former boss was aware Going Dutch? Not exactly. A scene from Amsterdam's cannabis coffee-shop culture