Several Church organisations, including Caritas, which have refused to enrol with the Voluntary Organisations Commissioner, may not be eligible to receive funds from this year’s annual charity telethon l-Istrina unless they join in the coming weeks.

This is because the President’s charity that organises the event – the Malta Community Chest Fund – has been recognised as a state entity, meaning it can now only donate money to enrolled NGOs.

NGOs Commissioner Kenneth Wain says this is stipulated in the Voluntary Organisations Act, enacted in 2007, to ensure transparency and accountability.

Prof. Wain had raised the issue of the legal status of the MCCF last year, arguing that as a non enrolled organisation it was illegal for it to receive benefits from the government such as free airtime from state television. Since then, the MCCF insisted it should be recognised as a government entity, according to Prof. Wain. He says this spells the end of his involvement in the issue. But while this may resolve last year’s controversy, other problems have now arisen due to the new status of the MCCF.

As the law stands, state organisations can help each other, meaning the MCCF can now receive free or subsidised airtime from Public Broadcasting Services, another state entity.

But state f unds cannot be given to non-enrolled organisations and more than a third of the organisations which benefitted from last year’s L-Istrina were not enrolled, something Prof. Wain let slide since the status of MCCF was still being negotiated.

The Church has never publicly explained what is holding it from enrolling its organisations.

When questioned last year, the Curia said it was in talks with the Office of the Prime Minister and the NGOs Commissioner’s legal adviser about the issue. Asked recently if the Church had settled the issue, a spokesman said that although there had been “further exchange of proposals”, the matter “is still not finalised”.

When asked, Prof. Wain said the situation with Church organisations had not been resolved.

It will therefore still be illegal for PBS to give free airtime to an end-ofyear telethon organised by nonenrolled organisation Dartal-Providenza, another issue which raised controversy last year.

Last year’s controversy did not seem to perturb ordinary people, who believe the benefits of such telethons override this legal dilemma. But NGOs, which painstakingly brought themselves in line with the law, were angry it was now being ignored by the biggest organisations that should be setting an example.

They were particularly angry because eligibility for state funds is one of the main incentives for organisations to enrol.

Prof. Wain said he “respects and recognises” the MCCF’s decision not to enrol as a voluntary organisation and, therefore, remain “not independent and autonomous of the government”.

Having come under heavy fire from the Office of the President last year, he insisted he had no wish to detract from “the excellent efforts of L-Istrina to collect money for the needy.”

“Following the unfortunate outcome of the debate last year, I think the proper application of the Voluntary Organisations Act is the responsibility of the government, which enacted the law, and not of the Commissioner who has no powers in this regard other than to make recommendations on the better operation and development of the law in support of the voluntary sector, which, of course, he will continue to do to the best of his abilities,” Prof. Wain said.

In his annual report published a few months ago, Prof. Wain pointed out that 30 per cent of direct government grants last year went to one major nonenrolled Church organisation and about 12.5 per cent were distributed to various other nonenrolled Church organisations.

“This is not, evidently, a situation that can continue into 2010,” he said, adding: “This situation with the Church organisations and the MCCF is harmful to the future of the voluntary sector as a whole and requires quick resolution.”

The MCCF has not yet replied to questions sent last Wednesday about its legal status and the fresh dilemmas this brings with it.