Il-GRTU ser tlaqqa lis-sidien tal-water bowsers wara li l-Ministeru ghar-Rizorsi u Affarijiet Rurali wiegeb ghal proposti li l-GRTU talbet ghan-nom tas-sidien.
Il-Laqgha ser issir illum il-Gimgha 21 ta' Mejju 2010 fil-prezenza ta' Dr Chris Ciantar Ministeru ghar-Rizorsi u Affarijiet Rurali flimkien ma John Mangion u Manuel Sapiano mill-Malta Resorces Authority.
GRTU wishes to express its views of disappointment as well as its partial satisfaction following the delivery of the judgement today by the Court of Appeal in relation to the pending Pharmacy relocation case.
Unfortunately the Court of Appeal disagreed with the appellants, GRTU and Kamra Tal-Ispizjara ta' Malta, who claimed that they had a direct juridical interest allowing them in terms of law to file a third party appeal, thus the Court declared their Appeals null due to this lack of juridical interest.
Whilst one might disagree with such a conclusion, and the principles of natural justice cannot in all fairness be held in contempt in this way, the Court criticized both the Attorney General (AG) and the Superintendent of Public Health in the performance of their duties.
The Appeal filed by the Attorney General was also dismissed by the Court of Appeal because it failed to file a direct Appeal itself from the decision of the court of first instance, which had literally stepped into the shoes of the competent authority (the Superintendent of Public Health) and ordered a relocation to be granted, something which the Appeals Court said it should never have done. Instead the AG filed an incidental "piggyback" appeal only after the Kamra Tal-Ispizjara and the GRTU filed their Appeals. This militates in favour of the theory that the Superintendent of Public Health and the AG had no intention of appealing on their own steam hadn't the GRTU and Kamra Tal-Ispizjara filed their own "Appello del terzo".
The Court was very clear on this when it said that "the Authority in question, if it had so desired, could have appealed directly from the part of the sentence that it did not agree with, but for reasons best known to itself, it chose not to do so, and only did so when it based its appeal on the other parties' appeal.
The Court of Appeal emphasized that it did not agree with the court of first instance's stepping into the shoes of the competent authority even though the issue was raised in an Appeal which the Court itself declared null. However due to the severity of the legal fallacy contained in the decision of the Court of first instance, the Court of Appeal gave a detailed reflection regarding judicial review of administrative actions. In a nutshell it remarked that a Court can declare that a wrong decision was taken by a competent authority or that it was null, but it can never wear the competent authority's robes and take a decision in its stead.
The Attorney General and the Superintendent of Public Health's failure to appeal from a decision that effectively emasculates the same Superintendent's competent authority, raises serious doubts as to the motivation of their actions. This is evident in the court proceedings themselves, where it was rather obvious that the Authorities were opposing GRTU and the Kamra Tal-Ispizjara instead of doing their professional duty and defending the case instituted against them by the plaintiff. This action, or lack of it, by the AG and the Superintendent of Public Health, leaves much to be desired.
This means that the Superintendent of Public Health failed to deliver what he was entrusted by law to do. Instead he resorted to the courts for a decision that he should have taken himself, citing imaginary and unfounded reasons for not taking the decision he was duty bound to take. We feel that his decision, based on the provisions of the regulations, should have been to refuse outright this relocation.
It is also very interesting to note Para 27 of the Judgment which specifically spells out that a Court should not replace the Competent Authority. What emerges here is that all parties in this case had to resort to the Courts because the Superintendent of Public Health failed to grant a decision one way or the other. The Court emphasized the Superintendent of Public Health's lack in not granting or refusing the relocation. If he had refused it, or granted it, then the action filed in Court would have been one of judicial review asking the courts to declare such decision to be wrong or null at law and therefore to ask the CGMO to take a correct decision.
It is now clear that there are serious doubts as to the motivation of both the AG and the Superintendent of Public Health in this case, their apparent lack of judgment, and their poor defence of the regulations governing Pharmacies. This whole episode amply demonstrates that there is no gentlemanly behaviour when it comes to agreements signed by Government with the social partners. The Government, by means of the AG's intransigence, and using him as a proxy, tried to break the POYC / Pharmacy licence agreement. It is now up to those who have taken this decision to shoulder the consequences.
No amount of hiding behind the skirts of the Court will convince us otherwise. The proof of the pudding is, indeed, in the eating.
VISET Malta plc requested us to inform you about the below correspondence:
"As of Saturday the 15th of May 2010, all commercial vehicles on the Malta – Sicily ferry service berthing at the terminals operated by VISET Malta plc, will be subject to a terminal operator fee as well as the fees in respect of port workers and their foreman. The rates to be charged by VISET will be those set out in Port Notice 02/2010 issued on the 1st March 2010.
To facilitate the movement of commercial vehicles, importers or their agents are to purchase vouchers from the cash office to be situated at the security gate at the entrance of Pinto 3 (across from the Police Station). The opening hours are Monday to Friday from 0900hrs to 1600hrs. For the initial period, the cash office will also be open anytime there is an operation in progress.
Each book will contain five (5) vouchers and will be of the following denominations: €150, €480, €765 and €1,070. A cash receipt will be issued to the receiver. On entering or exiting any terminal with a commercial vehicle, the driver is to present a voucher to a VISET Security Officer, who will retain a voucher.
The port workers' and foremen's overtime and shift allowance is included in the fee and will not be charged extra to the receiver.
In case of any difficulty, you are kindly asked to contact the Duty Officer on 9949 6578 or by email ".
Wasteserv (Malta) Limited have earlier this afternoon decided to implement the increase in landfill fees as of June 01, 2010, despite the fact that no agreement with stakeholders has been reached. It has been brought to our attention that notices have been placed at all of Wasteservs receiving facilities so that any one using the facilities is made aware of the implementation date
It is truly a sad day for the words ‘consultation and dialogue'. GRTU has been awaiting feedback from the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs since 8th April 2010, the day after our last meeting. Waste serv is truly just the scapegoat in this affair and understandibly they cannot move on unless they receive the funds required to operate landfills.
Whilst we have always understood the word sustainability, GRTU had recomended a number of ways to approach this increase in a more holistic manner. It sorely seems that this sector ‘taz-zibel' is being treated like ‘taz-zibel' in the true sense of the word. Whilst other sectors have been given millions of liri, this sector has been overwhelmed by a monopoly by the name of Wasteserv that has year after year taken away all EU funding which was truly directed for private industry to restructure itself accordingly.
There are sixteen more days to the end of the month. We truly hope discussions are stepped up and a solution is found. Another Naples should not be the order of the day…but its time the sector stood up to be counted.
GRTU has this week held a very successful information session for its members based in Gozo on MicroInvest, the tax credit scheme launched by Malta Enterprise for the benefit of small businesses (less than 9 full-time employees as at 10th November 2009) and self-employed.
The scheme is being offered for businesses to innovate, expand, develop and invest. The main benefit is that through these investments in the betterment of their businesses they would be able to deduct as much as €25,000 from their tax, which can be added up till 2013, and therefore over a period and not within 1 year. Enterprises based in Malta are given a 40% tax credit while enterprises based in Gozo are entitled to 60% of the total investment however the €25,000 capping is maintained. This is in line with Government's strategy to give an extra hand to Gozo who suffers more from the island's handicaps.
To be eligible businesses have to have their activity registered with the VAT Department and in possession of the required licences. They must also not be defaulting on VAT, Income Tax, Social Security and rent due to Government. Costs applied for>> P. 3- << P. 1- under this scheme have to be incurred between Jan 2010 and Dec 2011. The costs covered are:
Furbishing and upgrading of business premises for improved operations
Machinery or technologies to improve operations, save or generate energy
Cost of one commercial vehicle as long as such vehicle is involved in the transport of goods as specified in the guidelines
Investments which enable compliance with regulations, including Health and Safety, Environment Directives and Physical Access
Wage costs for new jobs created and/or apprenticeships taken, as long as these constitute a net increase in total working hrs
Applications are made AFTER the investment is made. There is an official application that should be completed electronically and sent/delivered until 31st March 2012.
Opening remarks were delivered by the Hon Jason Azzopardi, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Businesses and Lands, who explained Government's commitment to helping businesses especially the smaller ones. He continued saying that this is one of a number of schemes Government will be employing with direct aid to businesses. Vincent Farrugia, GRTU's Director General also gave his opening remarks saying that this is a scheme that was mentioned in the budget and one of the many schemes and proposals made by GRTU to Government for Budget 2010. He continued saying that as Dr Azzopardi pointed out there are still a number of schemes, the majority in fact, which have still not been launched. He explained the importance of the schemes we are still awaiting for especially their timely implementation. "There is the Micro Credit Scheme and the Electricity Support Fund. These schemes would provide essential support to enterprises especially in these difficult times. Unfortunately however late launch will make the schemes irrelevant and ineffective, that is why we call for an urgent launch. We have no use for an umbrella on a sunny day, we need it today while it is still pouring".
The presentation on the MicroInvest scheme was delivered by the very able Malta Enterprise official George Francalanza.
Contact Abigail Mamo @ GRTU for more information.
The European Economic and Social Committee and the GRTU have together organised a conference entitled Delivering SME Policies in remote areas of the EU: from good practice to more effective development models. The conference was supported by the Ministry for Gozo and the Parliamentary Secretary for Consumers, Fair Competition, Local Councils and Public Dialogue.
The conference succeeded in outlining Gozo as suffering form particular difficulties because of its relative remoteness. Focus was particularly placed on the problems SMEs in remote areas face in addition to the problems of normal SMEs. The conference results outlined the importance of targeting directly Gozo (as a case study for other remote areas) when drafting policies and the importance for policies to be tailor made and to reach Gozo not only the main island.
This conference was unique in its nature because normally such conferences are held in the form of a meeting in Brussels but given the subject matter our European and Economic Social Committee (EESC) representative Ms Sylvia Gauci has lobbied hard to hold this Conference in Gozo. The location was accepted because Gozo is ideal given the Conference theme. Ms Gauci's idea was that Malta and Gozo would lead on this important topic hopefully attracting also future meetings and conferences backed by EESC in Malta.
The conference was attended by a fair number of foreign participants members of the EESC, Maltese EESC members, members of the Committee of the Regions, Local Councils in Gozo, the Gozo Business Chamber and members of the Gozo business Community.
The conference was moderated by Ms Sylvia Gauci, EESC member, and several distinguished guests also made valid interventions during the conference which included the Hon Chris Said, Dr Simon Busuttil, Prof Gordon Cordina and Hon Giovanna Debono.
GRTU President Paul Abela welcomed the guest to the conference saying "I am pleased to say that as an organisation representing businesses in the locality we have striven hard to cause the Maltese Government to introduce a number of schemes that aim to level the different economic drawbacks that face small owner managed enterprises in the more deprived economic localities of Malta…Gozo is an extremely important locality for us, as unlike the other localities we represent it is an island on its own with an extremely cumbersome "highway". In spite of the investment in ferry service the short sea distance to the island of Gozo creates difficulties that other localities in Malta do not even comprehend".
In his intervention GRTU Director General Vincent Farrugia explained that the MicroInvest scheme is a perfect example of a measure targeting SMEs and specifically targeting Gozo with the increased benefit. The GRTU always encourages such measures as SMEs in Gozo indeed have to carry a heavier burden. He also expressed that the GRTU believes there is a need for policies targeting businesses to be also sensitive to the size of the businesses as the impact on a large enterprise is very different from the impact on a micro enterprise. "Government at the moment is not taking into consideration this distinction. Government is promising a new world to the smaller enterprise but from the 56 budget measures targeting businesses only around 50% have been implemented so far. The most important measures for businesses are still promises and when we ask when the policies will be enacted a later deadline is repeatedly given. Government is terrified to commit itself on proposals concerning businesses". Mr Farrugia further explained that it seems policies targeting larger companies have a swifter implementation, are awarded more money, are less bureaucratic. When it comes to the SMEs however everything becomes very difficult.
Trade: 12-14 May Public: 15-16 May Challenger 2-3, Impact, Muang Thong Thani, Bangkok, Thailand
The outstanding partnership of the Department of Export Promotion, the Ministry of Commerce (DEP), the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the world-class German event organizer Koelnmesse, is a sound guarantee that the upcoming THAIFEX World of food ASIA 2010 will be yet another great success like its predecessors. An intensive and continuous international public relations campaign in key markets around the world ensures that the annual food exposition welcomes a greater number of visitors each year.
The THAIFEX World of food ASIA 2010 is a great venue for you
Raise your profile in the industry and add value to your brands
Stimulate sales to reach a level even beyond your expectations
Expand your business network for greater opportunities
Unveil the latest food-related innovations
Strengthen your brand internationally
Meet and establish connections with potential buyers from around the world
Engage in business negotiations with new customers
Learn about your competitors for future business planning
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The European Commission will publish the fourth Call for Proposals under the LIFE+ Programme on 5th May 2010, with up to €240 million available for co-financing projects under three headings: nature and biodiversity; environment policy and governance; and information and communication. |
The European Commission, in conjunction with STELLA Consulting and MWH, will organise an Information Session on the LIFE+ Programme in Malta. The aim of the Information Session is to inform potential applicants for the 2010 Call for Proposals about the LIFE+ Programme, and the requirements for submitting a proposal. The Information Session will be held on:
12th May at the EU Representation, Valletta
To indicate your wish to attend this Workshop, please send an email to Joanna Pachucka at before 5th May. Further information can be found on the LIFE website: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/funding/lifeplus.htm
Mr Michael Galea, new GRTU member of the Gozo Regional Committee (GRC), attended his first GRC meeting together with Maurice Borg who is now the substitute member. A reassessment was done of Dr Gordon Cordina's report and way forward. The report from Gordon Cordina showed how Gozo experienced a lower per capita output and income when compared to Malta, and it was not contributing to and benefiting from the economic growth that was happening in the national economy in a proportionate manner.
Dr Cordina, amongst other things, suggested that in order to close the gap in per capita GDP there needed to be a creation of around 2,000 net jobs in relatively high productivity sectors. The proposed measures were subdivided to identify those that would address short-run pressures and others that would achieve medium-term economic benefits.
Meeting short-run pressures:
Temporary measures (2009-2010) –
Extend the scheme of charging all passenger ferries at Gozitan resident prices at all times between October 2009 and May 2010 if summer 2009 tourism benefits fall short of Summer 2007 levels
Defer payment of government tax, utility and permit bills to Summer period when cash flow is relatively stronger
Tailor temporary and targeted assistance to industry to specific situations of relatively big industrial employers in Gozo
Permanent measures
Enhance upkeep and maintenance of amenities
Re-surfacing of roads
Deploy cruise liner berths at Xlendi and Marsalforn to attract smaller cruise ships (c. 500 passengers)
Provide administrative support for application for EU funding
Entire Gozo should be recognised as a tourist locality for the purposes of shop opening hours
Setting up of an SME Park
Achieving medium-term economic targets, through:
Improved accessibility and mobility
Develop an airstrip to cater for planes carrying up to 20 passengers
Tourism distinctiveness, development and reducing seasonality
Construct international-standard sport facilities including an indoor pool
Construct breakwater in Marsalforn and provide yacht berths
Develop agro-tourism with Gozo serving as a model for Malta
Designate special development zones with favourable tax treatment for the re-development and regeneration of real estate for sale to high-net worth individuals
Exploitation of distinctive advantages offered for the ICT sector
Develop specific niches in the ICT sector, including launching of innovative technologies and accommodation of critical personnel; requires Gozo to have proper ICT connectivity
Implementation issues
Set up Task Forces to design and implement the above measures
