Restaurant owners this morning complained about excess bureaucracy especially with regard to permitting.

They claimed that there were too many authorities who needed to be consulted or from whom they needed permits. They said this was tiring and at times disheartening.

The restaurant owners were speaking during a seminar organised jointly by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

Tourism Minister Mario de Marco opened the seminar acknowledging there there were some aspects of permitting which needed to be looked into, making it easier for businesses to operate. He said the restaurant sector, with more than 670 licensed restaurants, over 600 snack bar licences, 90 licences for take aways and 850 bars, employs over 4,000 people on a full time basis.

He said the Mepa reform was speeding up the processing of applications.

On encroachments, he said a balance has to be struck between different operators with some businesses not requiring encroachments.

The restaurant owners also complained about the lack of enforcement with those who do not have a permit to operate and about the lack of guidelines on tables and chairs outside their establishments.

Developer Anglu Xuereb complained that the time window for complaints from entities such as the disability commission was too long and winding and suggested that applications for minor alterations to big projects should be fast-tracked.

Mepa CEO Ian Stafrace said 99.4 per cent of applications in 2011 were dealt with within the established timeframe.