Even if getting a trading licence is just a formality, as the president of the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises – GRTU is arguing, there is no reason why anyone carrying a commercial activity should go against the law and operate without having one.
There is no reason to believe the operators of the supermarket now in the news for operating without a trading licence do not intend applying for a licence. It would not make sense for them not to after having gone into such a huge investment to build what must rank as the finest supermarket on the island today, which also widens the concept of shopping.
But that is hardly the point. The nagging issue is not just the fact that the operators have failed to obtain the operating licence, as required by the trading regulations, but the light manner in which the GRTU president has dismissed the shortcoming.
If the regulations say a commercial activity requires a permit within 30 days “from the commencement date of the commercial activity” then the legal requirement ought to have been adhered to and the GRTU should to be the last organisation to treat such amatter lightly.
This approach is in line with the ‘anything goes’ mentality that has contributed so heavily to the lowering of standards and to the widespread illegalities resorted to not just in construction but, also, in so many other fields of activity. From Montekristo, one of Malta’s largest illegal development sites to an illegal zoo, from illegal boathouses to illegal rooms and other structures in the countryside, the list of wrongdoings is endless.
Flagrant abuse has been taking place under different administrations for years. It has given rise to the maxim that it pays to build illegally and, when caught, try and get whatever has been built illegally officially sanctioned. For fear of losing votes, successive governments have often closed not just one but both eyes to illegalities.
Objectionable too is when persons of high authority, knowingly or unknowingly, appear to give their stamp of approval when they attend functions at illegal properties, even if the revenue from such functions go for charitable causes. Attendance at such functions goes against rectitude.
When, for example, the Office of the Prime Minister keeps using billboards that are served with an enforcement notice by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the impression given is that it does not care less so long as the message it wants to convey reaches the people it is aimed at. In this case, the wrongdoing is doubly serious as people expect the government to lead by example.
The owners of the supermarket that chose to operate when it did not have the required licence within the period prescribed by the regulations laid down under the Trading Act were reported to have said that they planned to apply for the trading licence “in the coming days” once they were issued with a compliance certificate in relation to a decision by the planning authority last November. The owners were asked to relocate unsightly services installed at the back wall of the supermarket and were also fined €58,000 for works carried out without a permit.
The arguments put forward by the GRTU president in defence of the operators are irrelevant to the requirements of the law. The creation of a first-class retail establishment and the generation of jobs should in no way absolve an operator from following the requirements of the law.