Licence fee for pools

I recently got a nice letter from the Malta Resources Authority which threatens legal action and “criminal action ensuing” for a delay in paying a licence fee “for usage” of my private pool in my property.

First of all I really feel perplexed by a licence fee on the usage of a privately owned swimming pool not to mention also the sudden doubling of such fee. The origin and legitimacy of such licence (?) fees is also a mystery.

The MRA receives fees on public swimming pools as well, but does it spend any of its money on sending inspectors to ensure that our health is safeguarded while using any public, hotel or commercial pool? Is the MRA regulating what kind of products we, the domestic or the commercial owners, are buying from local agents for the upkeep and safety standards of the pool water itself? Does MRA provide a customer service in case I complain about services provided or not provided by the authority?

As a private user however, I ask one question: Why is MRA charging me for a licence (permission) for something I am privately using in my own house. In fact I compare this licence fee with the anachronistic and later found illegal, licence on satellite dishes. In other countries the only pool licences that exit are those that cover the building permit of the pool (paid once) and may be on commercial or shared pools.

I assume MRA would not bother to answer any of these questions and that this exercise was conveniently inherited from the old semi-communist mentality of the 1980s where swimming pools were associated with villas (or tax evasion) and everything had to be controlled by the government and taxed without any logic.

Today, pools are found even in medium and small houses too, and I do not find any need for owners to pay or be “granted a permission” for the use of structures in own residential properties. I hope others do speak up on these ridiculous licences.