Poor little piggy stuck on a spit with fire roasting him till he's nice and tender. But I'm not here to fight for, or applaud, the ways of vegetarians and vegans. Some operators of restaurants lately alleged the problem is not the poor pig or the ways he is being roasted. The problem is that quite a few enterprising owners are organising—against payment—majjalati (pig-meals), fenkati (rabbit-meals) and all sorts of meals in areas which are not licensed to do this. They might have culinary skills but their main skill is in shirking the proper rules.
The licensed organisers of meals rightly object to what they claim is blatant breaking of every rule imaginable. Besides the fact that it is unfair competition these disreputable farmhouses do not pay their fiscal dues, do not abide by any health and safety rules and only care how to make the pig acceptable enough to entice the crowds.
The places are well known by quite a few people—in fact there is one renowned farmhouse which has a few dozen cars parked outside its door every weekend. But the cherry in the pig's snout must have been the allegation that people from the VAT department had organised a get-together at one of these unlicensed—therefore receipt-less—outlets. Must definitely rate as one of the best ironies I ever heard of.
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The MEPA people rightly claim it's not just they who have to proceed against these illegal operators As MEPA obviously is only concerned with the buildings and whether they are sanctioned by law. Other entities have to get on with the act. What this proves is not only that some operators do things illegally: the flaw runs a bit deeper.
It is with enforcement—or the utterly nonchalant way enforcement is handled—pervading all parts of our little gem of an isle that is worrying. We all know the state with VAT and the wink/wink attitude of a huge number of service providers—including professionals—who hardly ever issue receipts. During the same seminar the unbelievable figure of 4000 beds, which are unlicensed and are available to visitors to Malta, was mentioned.
To really understand what 4000 beds signifies you only have to think that the biggest hotels in Malta only have 400 beds—and there are just a couple of those. The authorities surely know about this illegal accommodation but nothing is done to trace the culprits and get them to clean up or close up.
The fear of enforcement or the laid-back attitude to find the culprits and get them to regularise their position is scary. We—or rather the authorities—seem to think that the only way to handle this phenomenon is to sporadically issue a few fines and then all is fine.
And the problem is not just fiscal or in the eating business: it covers banal stuff like dog doings on pavements to hardly banal stuff like enforcement of a proper surveillance of drink-driving.
Do I or any sane man or woman want a police state? Hardly, but with enforcement and strict adherence of rules one has to be tough. In that way maybe even the poor majjal(pig) will get his roasting but all nicely done according to the rules.
PS: To all my readers who are expecting me to give names and addresses of the eating places which offer unregistered (therefore I imagine cheaper) majjalati you must think I have lost my marbles. I don't wish to end up being skinned alive and served as joints on the next unlicensed, majjalata dish.