Opposition sees repetition of mistakes

Opposition social affairs spokesman Marie Louise Coleiro said yesterday that she feared that the Voluntary Organisations Bill was not avoiding the mistakes made when the Commissioner for Children Act was enacted.

She noted when speaking in Parliament that the Commissioner for Children, Sonia Camilleri, had complained that her office lacked the independence and resources it needed to function more effectively.

In the case of the Voluntary Organisations Bill, a grouping of NGOs had complained that this proposed legislation could stifle their independence.

The NGOs working group, which had been studying such legislation since 2004 had also complained that the definition of voluntary organisations as given in the Bill was far too wide, even including organisations set up by the government. They said the powers of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations were excessive and the Bill could constitute over-regulation. They feared that this legislation would burden them, especially the smaller ones, with more compliance work and costs than benefits.

Mrs Coleiro Preca said such complaints needed to be given greater consideration by the government and she was therefore reiterating her call for NGO representatives to be given the opportunity to make their views directly to Parliament through a meeting of the Social Affairs Committee.

Mrs Coleiro Preca said accountability and transparency by NGOs were central to this Bill but this principle should be extended also to the Commissioner. The working group had in fact argued that rather than a commissioner there should be a fully accountable commission. That would be better than having a commissioner with all authority concentrated in his hands, as well as assistant commissioners and a council, as the Bill provided.

What was good was that one of the roles of the commissioner would be to coordinate the activities of the various NGOs working in the same sector. Such coordination was sorely needed, especially in areas such as that of persons with disability, leading to less duplication of effort and greater efficiency.

It was important that the annual report of the NGOs commissioner was tabled in the House and debated in the Social Affairs Committee.

Concluding, Mrs Coleiro Preca said it had been good that civil society was included, limitedly, in the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development but this concept needed to be expanded further, especially with regard to representation by voluntary organisations.

Foreign Minister Michael Frendo underlined the importance of civil society in a democracy. This law, he said, did not mean interference by the government in the activities of voluntary organisations. But it would strengthen the regulatory framework thus facilitating the recognition of NGOs. Among other benefits, this would help them participate more actively in EU programmes and be in a better position to tap EU funds.Dr Frendo observed that the opposition had complained about the way how the minister may remove the commissioner. Yet this could only happen after consultation with the Social Affairs committee and "on grounds of proved inability to perform the functions of the office, or proved misbehaviour".

It was true that the minister could act independently and suspend the commissioner when Parliament was not in session, but this suspension could remain in force for only two months after the committee had been constituted in a new Parliament. This was clearly an adequate safeguard, Dr Frendo said.

There had also been complaints that the definition of voluntary organisations included organisations established and controlled by the government. But, Dr Frendo said, such organisations had to be established for a social purpose, were not for profit and did not have an administrative role. Such organisations included, for example, Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. This was a government initiative doing a lot of useful work in the cultural sector. Its members allocated a lot of their own time for the foundation, which worked autonomously of the government. The foundation received only a small proportion of its funds from the government and most of its resources came from corporate and private sponsors.

Concluding, Dr Frendo said the Forum Malta fl-Ewropa, which was currently being strengthened, would soon be in a better position to assist civil society come up with projects which would be eligible for EU funding.

Labour MP Joe Abela said the country should give recognition to the work done by the voluntary sector which had also served to promote development in the country.

The members of the Christian doctrine society (Museum), for example, dedicated their time to help children develop certain qualities, which they could, in future, utilise to help others. He had been one of those who benefited from the society and later helped in the setting up of Dar Nazaret by Dun Ang Seychell, who had opened his home to give people with mental difficulties an opportunity to live a family life.

Mr Abela also highlighted the work of Fr Dionysius Mintoff OFM, who set up the Peace Lab and had now extended the laboratory's activities to helping irregular migrants.

Mr Abela said that while there was need for a law on voluntary organisations, he disagreed that the definition of voluntary organisations should include organisations set up by the government, since this was a contradiction in terms.

The Labour MP said the voluntary sector in the past few years started facing a new problem in that it was losing many young people who had to leave in order to work part time job to be able to buy a house.

This was also part of a consumer culture which was taking over all activities.

The sector was also being weakened by rising costs, which meant that the focus of voluntary organisations was increasingly on fund-raising. Other speakers will be reported tomorrow.