Exhibitors asked to choose between two summer fairs

The organisers of two trade fairs, in Naxxar and Ta' Qali, are engaged in a showdown as exhibitors are being asked to choose between two summer fairs that will be competing in June.

"A train is coming. You can either jump on it and move forward with us or let it pass you by," Paul Abela told a well-attended meeting of exhibitors yesterday in a speech that sounded like something out of an electoral campaign.

Mr Abela is one of the main organisers of the Naxxar fair, part of a group of six individuals who also run the Trade Fair Exhibitors Association (TFEA).

They set up a company called TFEA Ltd but were accused by a group of anonymous exhibitors of misappropriating the association's funds to further their business interests.

Lawyer George Hyzler filed a judicial protest on behalf of the unnamed exhibitors.

"What we are doing is legally and morally correct," Mr Abela said, adding that his lawyer, Ian Refalo, would be responding to the allegations in due course.

The Naxxar fair was announced two weeks ago but questions arose about whether the disused fairgrounds in Naxxar had the legal authorisation to open their doors again.

In 2007, the fair was moved to Ta' Qali but the organisers later decided to sell their shares, which were bought by Ruben Caruana, director of Sign-It and managing director of the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre (MFCC).

The exhibitors' association received some €500,000 from the sale of its shares, money that TFEA Ltd is accused of using to sign a five-year lease to organise fairs in Naxxar.

Opposition to the Naxxar fair has also come from residents in the area and by the local council, which met up with TFEA Ltd on Tuesday night to discuss the issue."During the meeting we made our introductory comments and now we hope things will be settled soon," Mr Abela said, without going into further detail.

Opening the meeting with a prayer and a tribute to deceased colleague Alfred Calleja, Mr Abela said the only one who could stop him from working towards this aim was God.

"In the world you need leaders. We have taken the initiative and we are going to lead you but we want you to join us and, eventually, help lead with us," he said, encouraging companies to sign up to the planned fairs.

Some exhibitors attending the meeting complained that the judicial protest had been filed on behalf of an unnamed group of exhibitors. They also complained that anonymous e-mails had been sent to them without their authorisation.

Mr Abela tried to keep the discussion restricted to technicalities of the fair itself, like prices and sizes of stands, asking exhibitors not to be deviated by the interests of third parties.

One of the exhibitors said she was confused because the same people who formed the association were now speaking to exhibitors as a company.

He said TFEA Ltd was set up as a company for the sake of continuity so that the strategy would remain consistent without a lot of internal squabbling that characterised associations.