Owners of catering establishments should always ensure their licence is in order, Malta Chamber of SMEs deputy president Philip Fenech has urged, dismissing a claim that the law regulating them is outdated.
His appeal came after Times of Malta reported on Saturday that hundreds of casual dining venues will not be able to serve alcohol for the next month under new COVID-19 regulations.
This is because only 15 per cent of the over 4,000 licensed catering establishments hold a licence as a restaurant, where alcohol can continue to be sold.
Just over half of the 4,000 are licensed as bars, which must close under the new rules, and the rest have licences as snack bars, kiosks or takeaways – which are not allowed to sell alcoholic drinks during November.
This means many cafés, restaurants and other casual dining establishments, which normally sell beer, wine and spirits, will not be able to do so because they are operating under a snack bar licence.
The head of the Association of Catering Establishments, Matthew Pace, has blamed an outdated law for this situation, saying the bulk of those licensed as snack bars are actually ‘casual diners’ such as pizzerias, and the problem lies in the wording of the legislation.
But Fenech, who represents the tourism, hospitality and leisure sectors of the chamber, rebuffed the claim, saying the legislation is clear.
“There are three reasons why someone would not have the proper licence: either they want to pay less, they could not comply, or they genuinely did not know what sort of licence they had.
“I urge owners to always keep track of the administrative side of their establishments otherwise, when something like this happens, they find themselves stuck,” Fenech said.
Fenech said the issue had brought the licencing problem to the surface and although he believed people should be responsible to ensure their operations are in order, genuine cases should be reviewed.
He said these should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis so those who were “genuinely” operating under the wrong licence could get their situation in order.
“The law is not outdated. The problem is that many have been allowed to operate with the wrong licence for many years,” Fenech said.
The chamber deputy president also pointed out, however, that the legal notice outlining the COVID-related measures should have been clearer.
The measures were supposedly introduced to avoid people congregating at bars and binge drinking and not to stop people washing down a meal with wine or some alcohol, he said.
“The latest legal notice should have been more specific and it would have been more helpful for everyone involved if the health authorities had consulted organisations like ours,” Fenech said.