Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/455578
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 2015 24 Letters Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. All legal notices are henceforth to be vet- ted by the Prime minister's office prior to being published. This is welcome news for all entrepreneurs burdened with excessive administration. It had become common practice for government departments to issue legal notices without sufficient consultation and more worryingly without sufficient appreciation of the economic and social repercussions. This crash landing attitude has been felt on a number of occa- sions by the places of entertainment after the prohibition of smoking in public places legal notice as well as by the suppliers and consumers of drinks and food in the case of the eco-contribution on plastic bag regula- tions. It is clear that an attitude of publish and see later had become commonplace. Regulations are being specifically drafted with little thought and much haste. The net result of this amateurism has been a shocked marketplace and stockholders are nervously fearful of what is to come next. As a result the confidence so necessary in the psyche of any enterprising person is fast drying up. Equally at stake is the confi- dence people retain in the government. As a result of these hastily drafted regulations there is a growing lack of confidence in the government. The free flowing of legal notices is evidence that the government is civil service driven. There can be little explana- tion how legal notices are being published devoid of any political and social sen- sitivity. While civil servants are renowned for a policy of regulate and see later, it is amaz- ing how ministers supposedly schooled in the art of government do not appreciate the consequences of these same regulations. It is earnestly hoped that with all regula- tions having to be vetted by the prime ministers office, a clear indictment of the slapdash way the regulations are being is- sued, there will be more attention to detail and to the consequences the regulations ignite. It is also encouraging to see that not only ministries but entities and authorities are to be placed under prime ministerial scrutiny and particularly that the drafting and the transla- tion is to be done by the attorney general's office. So basic are such require- ments that it has come as a surprise to most that the procedure now being introduced had not been entrenched for years. Hopefully this will make civil servants that much more careful and meticulous before rushing to the publication of regulations. At the heart of the unbearable 'free flow- ing' legal notices' comment of the director general of the GRTU lies his fear, shared by many a business person that the policy of this government is not sufficiently business friendly. The red tape and countless regulations being introduced is leaving the entrepre- neurial class little time to concentrate on running their businesses. Hence Vince Farrugia's insistence that regulations are analysed also on the basis of their busi- ness friendliness before being published. Government must come to terms and appreciate that the business climate in the country is a difficult one. This newspaper has, on countless occasions, insisted that government must introduce incentives and ventures which will help kick-start the economy. The recently announced venture capital schemes are a step in the right direction. Hopefully these schemes will prove successful in setting up new businesses. Hereto a cultural change of mentality is required. It is both unfair and counter-productive that Maltese banks are very willing to loan capital to business- man that offer property as collateral yet so unwilling to help businessmen with a good idea, but unable to offer property as col- lateral. This shortcoming has traditionally prohibited persons who are creative and in possession of good ideas from making progress in the business world. It is ar- dently hoped that the new venture capital schemes to be driven by Malta Enterprise will help overcome this shortcoming which is having dire consequences on our economy. If the Maltese banks could play their part in establishing venture capital schemes too, the necessary kick-start to the economy could materialise. Government needs to win back the confi dence of the public Editorial • January 23 2005 Pump prices are fuelling consumers' anger I am not a hunter More transparency needed on NGOs' fi nances Religion lacks humour Until last August I'd been wrestling with this conundrum ever since we adopted the euro: if these small denomination coins have to keep piling up before you can exchange them for anything worthwhile in Malta, how much more worthless must they be in other eurozone countries? The whole of last August spent in Berlin, in a residential area in former East Berlin, showed how wrong I'd been all along. At the supermarkets these tiddlywinks of coins did have value. Enough to say that 500gm of yoghurt went for 49 cents, a litre of fresh milk for 69 cents. And that is the sad story of the Maltese consumer: being short- changed from all directions. But the deepest cut is the price of fuel. We have been told over and over again by MCCAA representatives on the media, that since we are in the EU, there are no price controls. Retail outlets, from the corner gro- cers to the high street supermarkets to the auto outlets, can fix their own prices. The MCCAA's mantra to the local beleaguered consumer has been: shop around. That's the only way to fix the pricey retailers' wagon. But all this free market blarney we the consumers have been having, about there being no such thing as price control, took a Maltese twist when a Rabat filling station undercut the price of diesel by two cents and within hours was forced to reverse the reduction and bring the price in line with Enemed's. It's almost Kafkaesque that a State-owned company, Enemed, seems to be rigging prices against the interests of the average sch- muck. What a message this seems to be sending to private enterprise in dealing with its customers! This incident of no one being allowed to sell fuel at prices lower than those of the State-owned com- pany reminds me of the first time I went to Germany in the dark days of the '80's. Being a flag-waving patriot then, I chose the national airline to take me there. A return ticket would cost Lm218. I soon forgot my patriotism and said to myself, if I'm going to Ger- many why not try a German airline? So I went to the German airline's offices and was told that a return ticket would cost me... Lm218 (€507). In those days, €507 was no mean sum. When I protested, saying that that is what an Air Malta ticket would cost me and that I erroneously ex- pected a fairer deal from a German airline, I was told that the German airline could not sell at prices lower than Air Malta. It had to sell at (the State-owned) Air Malta prices, or higher. Just like fuel prices now. But for all the dark clouds the '80's in Malta were swathed in, at least then one knew that our lot was to put up with a command economy. 2015 is more sinister. We're sup- posed to be in a free market. I mentioned the '80's when the Lm218 air ticket to Germany was Hobson's Choice. In the '80's we had the PL as well as the PN in government. One can draw one's conclusion as to which party was in office when I expected Lufthansa to be cheaper but wasn't allowed to be. If you happen to be as naïve as I was then, a little nudge won't be amiss: flip a coin. If it turns up heads, then it was the PL in office at the time. Joe Genovese Birkirkara I ask – once there are those who show so much disgust at the hunting of birds, what is the general feeling about fish suffocating to death after being caught in a net or torn out of the water once hooked? Are meat eaters conscious of the fact that all meat consumed is slaugh- tered in some way or another before it reaches their plate? Yet 40,000 people, most of whom have no problem eating meat, signed a petition to ban perfectly legal spring hunting practised by a mi- nority. They did so on the in- stigation of a political party which played to the tune of a bird conservation society that in principle opposes bird hunting in the hope of persuading a majority. Claiming this was done since birds should be al- lowed to breed and not be shot, no one bothers to see what fish are doing before they're caught, or whether the chicken objects to its eggs being taken, neither do we give animals slaugh- tered for our convenience a choice or attempt to protect them. It seems only hunting birds requires extraordinary measures to stop rational ordinary laws that govern legal practices from being implemented. Hypocrites, one would say. But what if such hypocrites exist in other walks of life. What if 40,000 decide to ban fireworks, football on weekends, gay marriages, horses on our roads or any other legal activity they might abhor. Certainly our Abrogative Referendum law as it stands permits this and needs urgent revision unless minorities are of no interest to our elected politicians. We all rightfully rose in support following the "Char- lie Hebdo" massacre not only because innocent lives were taken but primarily because our freedom of expression has been threatened. I am no hunter but when I see a minority sector of Maltese society being abused by what purports to be a majority of the Maltese public I too rise in support, and hope all those that see through years of damaging propaganda upon which our bird lovers thrive and a defunct political party desperately seeking support will do likewise. On April 11 spring hunt- ing lies in the balance due to some people's egoism. Are you prepared to see your lifestyle ruined or your legal activity denied due to a weakness in our laws by those prepared to abuse them. From now until April 11, I too am a hunter. Christopher Piscopo Birzebbuga I think that Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna (FWA) has played a very shabby part in the case against Stephen Camilleri. Mario Farrugia, FWA CEO, said that his NGO earns its money through "voluntary or corporate donations or sponsorships or gate money, corporate hiring or sale of museum merchandise". Well, that's a lot more than any other NGO bene- fits from. I had read in some article that Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna controls 40 properties and had declared a €1 million turnover in its audited accounts. Many (if not all?) of its restorations are funded by the govern- ment and major sponsors like Bank of Valletta and Vodafone. Therefore how can FWA justify paying someone they themselves described as "one of their best museum managers" less than a maid? With such an income and staff being paid such paltry sums where is all the money going? The FWA website gives no information on the Founda- tion's committee, statute or earnings. There is no men- tion of members or where the money goes. This case has raised many questions, someone needs to investi- gate the answers. David Spiteri Birzebbuga The so-called "monotheis- tic" religions are antagonis- tic to each other but at least they have one thing in com- mon: they all lack a sense of humour. It seems that Moses, Jesus, and Muham- mad never cracked a joke! As Alfred North White- head observed: "The total absence of humour in the Bible is one of the most sin- gular things in all literature". John Guillaumier St Julian's