Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1496582
9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 M alta Developers Association Presi- dent Michael Stivala claimed in an interview that NGOs were accept- ing money from certain businesses in sup- port of campaigns against their competitors. Stivala did not provide proof for his alle- gations, which he had already repeated late last year. Several environmental NGOs came out denying the claims, asking Stivala to back them up or withdraw them. e Voluntary Organisations Commis- sioner also asked Stivala to substantiate the allegations given his duty to safeguard the voluntary sector from claims that tarnish its credibility. e Commissioner also confirmed that the eNGOs that had signed the statement denying the claims were all compliant with the Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations. Stivala should not have made those spu- rious claims if he has no proof, or at the very least information that can shed light on why he is making the allegations. It is obvious that Stivala will never name any competitor that would have engaged in such a practice. He will not get into a battle with fellow entrepreneurs and de- velopers and so the easiest thing for him to do is take it out on the NGOs. Within this context, it is clear that Stiva- la's only intention was to tarnish the cred- ibility of the organisations by implicating them in something he has not provided any shred of evidence for. But what Stivala implied requires re- flection. It is not illegal for a business or- ganisation to fund an NGO, or financially back a particular campaign. Neither is it illegal for NGOs to accept or even seek funding for their campaigns, especially when these involve expensive appeal pro- cedures in tribunals and courts. As long as the funds are above board, registered and declared, business organ- isations and NGOs have nothing to be ashamed of. e operative word here is transparency, something which NGOs are obliged to uphold by the VO Com- missioner. If Stivala knows of instances where NGOs accepted funds without declaring them, he should pass this information to the VO Commissioner for further inves- tigation. e situation gets a bit more complicat- ed when NGOs resort to crowd funding using online platforms, where donors can remain anonymous. But a business organisation is unlikely to adopt such a funding route for a cause it believes bene- fits its interests. Perhaps clearer rules should be intro- duced to regulate this form of funding, although if donors are unknown, they can hardly influence how an NGO acts. But there is a second level of concern, which is of a more ethical nature. NGOs campaigning on an environmental platform against a certain development would undoubtedly put their credibili- ty at stake if they accept money from a business competitor and keeping their mouths shut if the donor is then involved in a similar project. ere should be minimal rules if at all governing the ethical aspect linked to the source of funds because any such regulations could be an intrusion into the work of the NGOs. In the ethical realm it is the court of public opinion that will determine whether those NGOs acted correctly or not. Stivala would have been right to criti- cise NGOs and call them out for acting unethically for accepting funds from business competitors if this was truly the case. e organisations would then have to publicly explain their stand and it would be up to the people to pass judge- ment on their credibility. However, no such circumstance has been flagged so far and all we are left with is public shaming of the voluntary sector in a bid to score a few cheap points. While environmental organisations may at times be perceived as stifling develop- ment and economic growth when oppos- ing infrastructure and building projects, they nonetheless are an important part of the country's conscience. Public shaming of voluntary sector not on 6.4.2023