Company protests change of commercial licence

A company yesterday filed a judicial protest in the Civil Court holding the Malta Tourism Authority, Clouds Catering Limited and Ashley Attard liable for damages.

St George's Park Company Limited, the owner of premises called "Insomnia" (formerly "Clouds") at Paceville, claimed it had filed litigation to evict Clouds Catering Limited from the premises due to non-payment of rent.

It had, by a judicial protest filed last month, formally warned respondents not to make any changes in the police licence for the premises as the licence had expired.

The company added that it knew that Attard and two other individuals were pressuring the MTA to change the licence and to register Attard as a substitute on the commercial licence.

St George's Park had applied for a warrant of prohibitory injunction against the MTA prohibiting the authority from changing the commercial licence for the premises.

A director of the company had gone to the MTA to inform the officer concerned that the warrant had been provisionally upheld and to give the MTA a copy of the application.

To the director's great surprise, he found that the officer was in the process of changing the licence by listing Gordon Ogilvie as the licensee and Ashley Attard as the substitute when Attard was not even present at the office.

The legal adviser of the MTA was informed of this but advised the MTA's official to continue with the changes to the licence.

This, said St George's Park, was irregular and unacceptable, for the MTA, as a public authority, was duty bound to respect the authority of the courts.

Thus, the MTA was supposed to have awaited the outcome of the warrant of prohibitory injunction before effecting any changes to the licence.

The company concluded its protest by formally holding respondents liable in damages and by calling upon the MTA to withdraw the changes that had been effected to the licence.