Category: Archive – 2012

Energy prices today, and for the foreseeable future, and our obligation to reduce carbon emissions, make investing in a PV system a wise move. The problem is that such systems are not cheap, and caution before committing a significant amount is called for.  The upside is that a good system should last in the region of 30 years at least, while the savings should allow the capital outlay to be recouped in as little as two or three years, giving an excellent return on capital over the whole life of the system.

 

Of course, you have to choose a good system at the outset, because otherwise, a dream investment might turn into a nightmare. 

In the last few years the PV boom in Europe, the US and China, has given rise to assorted brands popping up like mushrooms, sourced mainly from the Asian Continent, Greece, Turkey and other countries with similar manufacturing histories. Nothing wrong with that of course, as long as they can provide proper reliable systems and effective warranties. If they do and have a good price, go for it.

However you should be aware that many of the operators behind these brands are prone to suddenly filing for bankruptcy or even vanishing without notice or explanations. Opting for renowned, long established brands that are unlikely to vanish in the next couple of years is essential for your investment to be successful, even if the upfront outlay is a bit on the higher side. It is wiser to rely on slightly higher priced brands that recoup your investment in a reasonable amount of time than try to break the record in payback time only to find out that your investment has suddenly developed fatal flaws and your money has been wasted.

It's said that if something is too good to be true, it probably is: achieving a balance   between price and brand strength can be a key component in getting the right answer to the question of whether this maxim holds.

Article by Noel Gauci, renewable Energy consultant and president of Renewable Energy section of GRTU.

Why did you become an entrepreneur?  My Father was the first one to start the business, and it is family run. My father and sister have passed away so my daughter and I run the business today

 

How have you come to chose your line of business?

Inherited

Where did you go on your last holiday?

Austria and Germany

What is your earliest memory?

All of my childhood

If you could chose to be someone famous who would you be?

I am happy the way I am but I just admire Angelina Jolie

Avoid an over bureaucratic approach says GRTU – Malta micro, small and medium enterprises, commonly referred to as SMEs, represent 99.9% of total enterprises. GRTU Executive Carmen Borg has this week participated at the OHSA conference marking its 10 years anniversary. GRTU, in representation of employers, forms part of the tripartite structure within the OHSA Board. GRTU congratulates OHSA for the contributions it has constantly delivered during the past 10 years.

 

Since its inception, OHSA has been considered by GRTU to be based on sound principles and we feel that it has contributed to bringing about a change in the mentality and approach of our members. From our assessment members have over the years increased their understanding of what constitute safety measures within their specific sector and have learned to appreciate the value of abiding with such conditions. Their approach to health and safety features at the workplace has therefore become more positive and the GRTU can safely say that its members and the absolute majority of SMEs today commit to the overall holistic view of Health and Safety at the place of work.

It is not only important to assess the level of implementation of health and safety measures focusing on SMEs because they are in fact the biggest employers but also because it is very easy to keep an eye on the few larger enterprises but it is very difficult to do this with all the thousands of micro and small enterprises in existence today. GRTU therefore feels that extra efforts are required when dealing with SMEs and we feel we have reason to celebrate on the seriousness with which our SMEs, who have too little resources to work with, deal with health and safety at the place of work.

This can be proved through the success achieved by a constant reduction in the number of injuries at the place of work as can be seen in the latest published figures of the last six years. Figures show that there is a positive downward trend in work related injuries.

The number of injuries at the place of work has reduced from 0.31% in 2006 to 0.21% in the gainfully employed figures of 2011. The number of fatalities has also decreased during this period.

GRTU contributes by constantly creating awareness within our members, providing them with all available Health and Safety information and also by stressing the importance of the education and training element within the Health and Safety sector. We do this through our weekly newsletter, the GRTU newSTRING and through our constant contacts and meetings with members, etc. GRTU also uses other media such as radio programmes to keep our members aware about the prevention needed to avoid health and safety issues at their place of work. Since most of our members are small to medium enterprises who normally have a limited amount of funding, our EU Desk constantly advises about the possible sourcing of EU funds to improve and strengthen the Health and Safety element within their organizations. More information and our online publication can be found on the GRTU website http://www.grtu.eu/.

During our sectoral and locality meetings, GRTU always stresses the importance of investing in the training of staff in Health and Safety requirements, and also emphasizes about the utmost importance that all Health and Safety legislation should always be respected and followed through. We feel that our efforts and that of the OHSA could be however further amplified if we would work closer together and unite our resource. 

During the past year GRTU has participated in discussions with the OHSA concerning "Stress at the Place of work" for which several of our members also participated in a seminar.

GRTU is all in favour of increasing the Health and Safety at every place of work but it is imperative for new initiatives in this regard to be sensitive to business. Sensitive to business meaning it is not disproportionately burdensome compared to the results it seeks to achieve, it is based on the resources to implement of the smallest business, the much talked about "think small first", and it is accompanied by an impact assessment. This does not in any way mean that we do away with health and safety because the measures are too burdensome but that we must together find a solution that will implement without placing additional burdens. This is an area where we as GRTU expect more communication from the side of the OHSA and these are the subjects we expect to discuss on the OHSA board. Subjects which are relevant in application and by which decisions taken may effect the life of a business owner or make it either more complicated or easier.

GRTU is also aware of the fact that even OHSA is limited by its financial resources. This may impact negatively on its operation. For this reason GRTU suggests that OHSA should focus mainly on its core responsibility which is that of regulation. From the experience it has gained over the years and from the feedback we receive from members we feel that the OHSA is not as dynamic as the GRTU and the enterprises would wish to move towards the private sector. The private sector must be aided in the area of health and safety.

GRTU expects much more emphasis on training, provision of funds and additional tax advantages for the private sector to successfully implement health and safety measures. The schemes for health and safety are over and above any other schemes that firms may be enjoying such as innovation, restructuring on training and recruitment.

Government contracts still do not emphasise enough the need for suppliers to be certified OHSA approved operators so those firms that spend quality money in health and safety are out-bidded by others who spend little or nothing on approved standards.

Many small businesses are family run so health and safety at the workplace means health and safety for their family members. For these SMEs the work organisation is not simply a factory or a large establishment of owner and workers but an "us" atmosphere so hand holding rather than imposition.

An over bureaucratic attitude only creates an antagonistic approach by many small business owners towards the authority; this can very easily be avoided. An authority must not necessarily mean being another bureaucratic nuisance. An authority has to be practical. If the authority does not work close with business and its representatives, like the GRTU, it will become bureaucratic, its principles will become irrelevant to the real practical objectives, its objectives will become far fetched. Enterprise and especially, forming the absolute majority, small businesses are the clients of OHSA. OHSA has to sell its objectives and safety standards to these enterprises. More work and communication is necessary in this regard.

GRTU is represented by executive Ms Carmen Borg on the OHSA Board.

Il-GRTU tesprimi s-sodizzfazzjon taghha ghall-progett tal-mina  li jghaqqad il-fond ta' San Mikiel (mid-ditch tal-Belt) sac-centru tal-Belt (Triq Nofsinhar)  li ser titwettaq u ser tithaddem fuq sistemi moderni u komdi biex min irid jidhol il-Belt biex jinqeda bis-servizzi kollha li joffru l-istabilimenti tal-Belt ikollhom access iehor  facli u b'kumdita'  ta' sistemi moderni li jevitaw it-tbatija lil dawk kollha li jridu jinqdew bis-servizzi kollha li toffri l-Belt Valletta.

 

Fil-prezentazzjonijiet kollha li ghamlet tull l-ahhar snin il-GRTU f'isem is-sidien tan-negozji tal-Belt, in-numru kbir ta' konsultazzjonijiet li wettqet ma l-Awtoritajiet, kemm Kunsill Lokali, kemm tal-Gvern, il-GRTU dejjem ipprezentat proposti konkreti u suggerimenti biex fil-Belt Kapitali jsiru dawk il-progetti kollha mehtiega li jziedu l-accessibilita' u li jziedu l-postijiet ta' parkegg vicin biex dak li jkun jidhol il-Belt b'kumdita u jgawdi il-progetti kollha kbar ta' tisbieh li qed isiru madwar u fil-Belt kollha.

Il-GRTU ma qaghditx tikkoncentra fuq it-tgergir u l-kummenti biss ghaliex bi tgergir biss ma tasal imkien izda ikkoncentrat l-aktar fuq it-tfassil u d-diskussjoni ta' progetti li jghollu il-livell ta' dak kollu li toffri il-Belt Valletta. Hu ghalhekk ta' sodisfazzjon ghall-GRTU bhala l-organizzazzjoni bl-akbar numru ta' stabbilimenti fil-Belt li huma msiehba maghha, li l-GRTU tara it-twettieq tal-progetti imhabbra mil-Ministru l-Onor. George Pullicino li bi progett wiehed wara l-iehor, bhalma huwa dan il-progett tal-mina pedonali, il-progetti  taz-zewg liftijiet, u l-progetti l-ohra kbar ta' restawr u pavimentar, u l-holqien ta' zoni godda ghat-tgawdija tal-pubbliku u postijiet godda ghall-parkegg ta' karozzi, u dawn u ohrajn ghaz-zieda fl-accessibilita', flimkien qedghin, b'pass wiehed wara l-iehor,  jizguraw li l-Belt Valletta tilhaq il-livell li hafna holmu li xi darba jkun possibli.

Il-GRTU issostni li baqa hafna xi jsir biex ix-xoghol kollu li hemm ippjanat jitwettaq u l-GRTU f'isem l-istabilimenti kollha tal-Belt tistieden  l-Awtoritajiet jkomplu jzommu kuntatt ta' konsultazzjoni kontinwu halli ix-xoghol kollu li jonqos li jsir, jitlesta bl-anqas inkonvenjent ghan-nies tan-negozju stabbiliti fil-Belt. L-GRTU tappella wkoll lis-sidien kollha b'investiment fil-Belt biex iharrsu b'fiducja lejn il-futur, minkejja matul dawn l-ahhar snin hassew il-piz tax-xoghlijiet kollha li kellhom isiru fil-Belt.

Following the elections for the National Executive Council 2012 held on Sunday January 15^th 2012 GRTU National Executive Council met today to elect GRTU officers for 2012. The GRTU officers team is as follows:

President – Paul Abela

Senior Vice President – Philip Fenech

Director General – Vincent Farrugia

Vice President Finance and Administration – Marcel Mizzi

Vice President International Relations – Michael Galea

Vice President Trade Sections- Joan Haber

Vice President Businesses in the Localities – Sergio Camilleri

VP Training and Development – Mario Debono

Tourists who had planned to come to Malta are not bothering as the local political scene does not even effect them slightly. Foreign buyers of Maltese goods and services are likewise not affected. It's the same with transshipment, harbour operations, financial services, e-gaming, ship registration and all other economic activities which together form the greatest chunk of Malta's GDP.

 

What is effected is local private consumption as consumers hate these political shocks and tend to steer away from spending. Again this is a situation which will be attuned, as the situation drags on, as people have a habit of accepting things, even strange happenings, as this one, as pretty well normal. The negative impact is more on decisions effecting the short to medium term future investment decisions, as investors might prefer to review as change always puts people on a cautious mode. A potential change of Government does cause people to rethink or postpone.

I think it is almost hilarious that our political masters could not manage this problem. In my view the issue could have been settled by the introduction of more Private Members` Days in Parliament where backbenchers, Franco Debono and the others, could have given their positive contributions by advancing Private Member Bills for the benefit of the Community. Franco Debono could easily have produced four or five Private Members' Bills on all the issues he has raised over the last weeks. It would have only taken the Prime Minister and the PN the time to redraw the parliamentary programme of their last year in Government to include also the Franco Debono reform programme. This programme could have been either approved by Cabinet and followed by a three line whip or else by allowing MPs on the Government side a free vote in Parliament on the Debono reforms.

The same could apply for any other backbencher wishing to promote reforms beyond the Government programme. The whole issue is really a PN Parliamentary Group management problem. The business community should have never been involved. People in business really do not understand why this issue was allowed to reach the dramatic proportions we have witnessed this week. Even the Divorce issue should have been tackled in this manner without all the fuss and expense we had to go through.

I think it is still  possible for such a solution as Franco Debono has no mandate from no one to cause all this mess. Other senior democracies have fixed government terms as in the USA and even the coalition government in the UK is moving towards a five year fixed term. In modern politics, especially for members of the EU who are linked to multi-annual financial straight-jackets decided at EU level, it is very difficult for Governments to perform within a planned strategy if they are subjected to the rocking of the boat by an erratic backbencher. This does not mean that backbenchers should not have the liberty to act and even propose new legislation that differs and departs from approved majority platforms, but threatening a country's political and economic stability should not be subjected to the whims of any one backbencher. The price of instability is paid by manyin business, owners and workers and the country as a whole, and no elected representative has the right to impose pain on others just  to enjoy his intellectual freedom.

Judgement as to what is important and essential in this country should not be dependent on the judgement of one backbencher. This is not a question of someone wanting to hold onto power, all this is silly talk really, but it is a question of managing a country according to a planned legislative and administrative programme. There is no economic and social crisis in the country as IMF has just reported and we, as a nation, should not be made to look  naive at a time when other nations, much bigger than us, are managing with difficulties that are real and not imagined.  I am one of those who travel to Brussels practically every week and I find it so embarrassing to explain to informed foreigners what the instability in Malta is all about. People with an average sense find it hard to understand.

It is damaging to us as Maltese really. We are so lucky to be in the European Union. Malta is only the size of an average European town that may have a simple normal municipal authority depending on two, three or four other layers of democratic administrative structures. Our Prime Minister and our representatives today sit at par and at the same level with the leaders and representatives of countries as large as the UK, Germany, France and Italy. We must all learn to grow up and behave to the level of the league we are participating in.

Malta is small but it is a proud nation. We are doing extremely well in Europe thanks to the work and the abilities of so many people. There were so many prophets of doom that frightened us all before we joined the EU that all this great advancement was not possible. Yet it is a reality. The pain more than anything is to our excellent name  in Europe. To our pride as a nation. We cannot, and we should not, appear to be unable to resolve issues that should have never been even brought outside the PN Parliamentary group discussion forum. The stability of a Government of a Member State of the European Union is perceived now to be in jeopardy. Whoever is responsible must seriously rethink and reconsider. The Maltese will pay the price. But we should not have been made to pay it. The issues on the agenda do not make it worthwhile.

Siim Kallas, the European commissioner for transport, will brief members of the European Parliament's transport committee on Tuesday on EU rules on passenger ship safety in the light of the capsize of the Costa Concordia cruise ship. 

 

On Monday, the commissioner expressed his condolences and said that the Commission was engaged in a "full check of complex passenger ship safety rules [and] will make proposals during 2012".

The cruise ship capsized after it hit a rock off the Tuscan coast leaving some passengers dead and some still missing. International journeys such as the Concordia cruise are covered by International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules, while journey's within a country's own waters are covered by EU rules. The EU has the ability to go further than the IMO rules for international journeys, and it has done so in the past, for instance with ferries carrying passengers and cars. But rules on the construction of vessels rest solely with the IMO.

The Commission has been conducting a review since last year to see if the existing rules are fit for purpose. Some of the rules date from the 1990s and the dramatic increase in ship size and passenger numbers may mean rules on the stability of vessels or the training of seafarers need to be updated, a Commission official said. In 2000, the average cruise liner had 1,000 passengers. Today that number is 6,000.

Some Commission efforts to change rules on training of seafarers have been rejected by the Parliament, such as a requirement that people working on passenger ships speak English. Some non-Italian-speaking passengers on the Concordia have complained that the evacuation was chaotic and fraught with communication problems.

Ecology threat

The ship is on the edge of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, the largest marine protected area in Italy. The danger of it slipping off the rock shelf into deeper water has prompted warnings of an ecological disaster, since the ship was loaded with heavy fuel and harmful chemicals.

Efforts are under way to extract the oil, but could take as long as four weeks. The Commission has offered to help with any environmental clean-up, but so far no assistance has been requested by the Italian government.

Environmental groups and the Italian environment minister have called for restrictions on cruise ship activity. Italian campaign group Marevivo said the industry has a widespread practice of sailing too close to shore "to create a picturesque setting both on board and on land". But the European Cruise Council said that its members "are subject to the highest safety standards around the world".

 

 

Why did you become an entrepreneur?  When I met my fiancée, my husband today, he was already in business.
How have you come to chose your line of business? He had already started a line which was more based on souvenirs and as time went by we widened to souvenirs, works of art, collectables, furniture, etc… I find it very interesting, challenging and it's a sort of thing we both me and my husband like.

 

Where did you go on your last holiday?

Italy. I love the Italian culture, food, fashion and the people themselves. I feel one of them when I'm there. I learnt a long time ago that even it's a big country people are themselves, have families, have a mutual respect for each other and foreigners, they make you feel comfortable even when you are dealing with them on business.

What is your earliest memory?

I was very young and my mother was expecting  a baby and they told me I would have a brother. I was very excited! We grew very fond of each other.

If you could chose to be someone famous who would you be?

I admire a lot of famous people such as Mother Theresa, Hilary Clinton, Margret Thatcher, who I found impressive in the way she managed politics and economic, Lady Diana and how she was sensitive she was to the people. But nobody I can say I would really like to be. I'm happy to be me. If I was someone else I would not have the family I have which I care about dearly.

Extension of the mandatory take-back obligation still an issue for commerce – The recast WEEE Directive will bring some welcome improvements, but commerce regrets these may be outweighed by the mandatory take-back provisions.

 

Today, the European Parliament confirmed the trialogue agreement reached at the end of December on the recast of the WEEE Directive (waste electrical and electronic equipment). The changes will bring some advancement towards greater freedom of movement of electrical and electronic equipment; however it will impose a duty on retailers to take-back small volume WEEE, which may actually damage the long-term effectiveness of recycling provisions in the EU.

Christian Verschueren, EuroCommerce Director General said, "Our concern is that shops will eventually turn into collection points and that distributors take on responsibilities which rightly lie in the hands of producers and municipalities. We therefore particularly welcome the provision, whereby existing alternative schemes for collection must be maintained, not duplicated."

The commerce sector fully supports the principles of the internal market and has consistently encouraged efforts to increase the free movement of goods. We have always fully supported the environmental objectives of the WEEE Directive to improve the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment and contribute to resource efficiency. 

We therefore welcome the improvements introduced by the recast, which are a first step towards more harmonisation and reduced bureaucracy, thus helping small businesses and contributing to a better-functioning internal market. Nevertheless, there is still major concern about the long-term implications on the commerce sector of the new mandatory take-back of small volume WEEE by retailers.