Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/744537
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2016 28 Letters The owner of the former BICAL bank and group of companies, Cecil Pace, has written to the Commissioner of Police asking him to proceed against former government appointed controllers for the way they managed BICAL assets to his detriment. In a painstakingly handwritten, sixteen- page letter, the unrelenting Cecil Pace recounted his ordeal at the hands of controllers under whose administration, millions of liri in properties were sold off at pittances to favoured buyers. "I have provided you with sufficient information to enable you to take this matter in hand without delays and to take all necessary steps against the controllers and to investigate the reasons why their superiors did not ever bother to check them and notwithstanding my please, which remained unanswered throughout," the 75-year-old wrote in his letter to police commissioner John Rizzo. Pace's bank BICAL was taken under government administration after inves- tigations into misappropriation of funds by Pace and his brother Henry started in 1973. Despite their mandate to rid the bank of its debts by selling off sufficient assets, the BICAL empire was effectively decapitated by the selling off of factories, hotels and shipping vessels for giveaway prices – Pace suspects the actions were politically motivated. Under Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, who later became prime minister in 1984, Pace's Comino Hotel was given back to the Comino landowner for free because Mifsud Bonnici did not want to keep pay- ing the ground rent on the hotel. In a horrible turn of events in 1995, both sides of the House of Representatives passed a law declaring immunity for all past controllers and the government. Cecil Pace said he will be taking the matter up to the European Commission if the police decide not to take steps on the mishandling of the BICAL controllership by government. Since emerging from prison in 1984, Cecil and his son Malcolm Pace have fought long court battles in a bid to redress the injustice of the BICAL decapitation. The liquidation of his bank's debts has dragged on since 1974, but government insists the last depositors in the former BICAL bank will soon be paid off. "My companies have been dormant since 1974, and yet auditors and the controller are still getting paid for their work from the BICAL assets," Pace says. "Up until 2000, they took monies from my compa- nies which have been dormant for the past 31 years, up to Lm238,000 in yearly ad- ministrative costs. Whilst the companies remained inactive, they were still drained of the assets." 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. Cecil Pace takes BICAL case to police commissioner News – 28 October, 2006 Our publishing industry and the copyright exception The European Commission is planning to introduce a new copy- right reform to further harmonise copyright regulations in the single market. In principle most of us would agree and even benefit from further cross-border copyright law harmonisation, however it must be acknowledged that local publish- ers are against the education copyright exception as it is being proposed as they are unconvinced that the current wording of the draft will guarantee fair compen- sation for use of works. I am also against taking a "wait and see" approach on the ac- tual effects of the law on the local publishing industry, which seems to be the position of politicians who are apparently in favour of the law. There seems to be no limits, standards or guidelines set by the draft law on how much content can actually be reproduced for the use of illustration in the class- room. At the same time the draft also concedes that member states have the right to implement the education exception according to the licensing regulations they have in the local market and this so as to ensure fair compensation for publishers, but this may also be left to the discretion of member states. The wording as it stands is ambiguous and can be subject to various interpretations. In such technical matters relating to rights and compensation, especially in the light of the recent HP/Reprobel judgment, we know very well that the law may fail its intended pur- pose and deliver debatable judge- ments. I suspect that the main problem in our local context is that there is no culture of safeguarding copyright in our education system and the works of local publish- ers end up being photocopied or scanned digitally without fair compensation. Local publishers are anxious about the prospect of having a new law which might actually accelerate the current indifference to copyright law and culture. This is why I think we need to assess properly our local situation before taking a position on the current reforms. We have to keep in mind that this is a very delicate issue since the prime source of revenue for local publishers is not fiction or non-fiction but, as a matter of fact, children's books and educational material. If the law allows member states the freedom to interpret the education excep- tion according to local licensing and copyright standards, and the government would take a position in favour of using the education exception to facilitate further dis- semination of published educa- tional material, in Malta's case, the outcome could deal a severe blow to the publishing industry. So, instead of taking a wait and see approach, the government should engage publishers further on the issue and guarantee that their lifeline will not be cut while, on the other hand, local publish- ers should make their position more assessable and put forth concrete proposals regarding the implementation of new licensing agreements to immediate effect. We have to take a unified approach to the issue and given that these reforms will be discussed under Malta's Presidency we may have a better opportunity to make sure that the outcome of the reforms would safeguard the existence of our publishing industry. Mark Camilleri Senglea It is indeed a shame after having seen the splendid restoration of the Cittadella in Gozo, to turn right just out of the main gate and see a total shambles. The habit of discarding rub- bish and remnants from any building site just over the nearest wall or into any adjoining land seems to have stuck even with this prestigious project. What is now an improvised car park complete with a dirt track, garbage, building debris and large concrete blocks, could easily be turned into a landscaped parking area worthy of this popular and unique attraction which presently looks incomplete. One wonders whether enforcement of our lit- tering laws exists since the mess is there for all to see and its provenance quite obvious. Hope- fully my next visit there will see the necessary transformation of this area, which at present is shameful for both tourists and locals to witness. Surely after the substantial restoration cost, embellishing this eyesore costs a pittance and only takes a matter of weeks to complete the project we are all proud of. Mark Mifsud Bonnici San Pawl tat-Targa An incomplete beauty