Power cuts could be final straw for restaurant owners after months of problems

The owners of a Lebanese restaurant in Paceville say opening in Malta may have been “a mistake” after a series of power cuts and infrastructure problems disrupted the business.

Joseph and Hayley Marshall El Haiby, who own Aft Galley, said the restaurant had faced repeated setbacks since opening in 2021.

In a post on the restaurant's social media pages, they wrote: “The past two months have been a series of 'avoidable atrocities' for their business."

Speaking to Times of Malta during an ongoing power cut, which they said began at 7pm on Monday, Joseph El Haiby said: “This is a joke. It is truly heartbreaking; this restaurant was our dream. It is incredibly disappointing to see this happen.”

Joseph, a Lebanese national, and Hayley, who is Scottish, opened the restaurant in 2021 after spotting a gap in the local market for Lebanese food.

This restaurant was our dream. It is incredibly disappointing to see this happen

The couple said it was the second power cut the restaurant had experienced in less than a week.

They said the restaurant suffered a “total blackout” the previous Friday while it was fully booked and at the busiest point of service.

The outage was especially frustrating because it was one of the first times in weeks that the restaurant had been full.

The business had previously been closed for a month, between May 25 and June 25, because of problems with sewage. 

Sewage problems

The couple said the issue was linked to roadworks carried out near the restaurant.

They said they waited about 10 days for a response from the authorities and later learnt that the problem may have been caused by a broken pipe during earlier resurfacing works, all the way back in January. 

“We spent a month without business. And everyone we looked to said it wasn't their problem.”

The restaurant reopened at the end of June, but the owners said business remained slow.

They said they were relieved when the restaurant was fully booked on Friday, only for the power cut to disrupt the service.

In their online post, they wrote: “The financial loss is staggering, but the emotional toll is worse. How can we encourage the next generation to stay in Malta when basic utilities cannot be guaranteed? When local businesses are pushed to the brink by infrastructure that cannot support the island’s growth?”

The couple are calling for compensation, answers and a reliable environment in which to operate their business.

They said the repeated disruption had led them to consider leaving Malta.

“Unfortunately, there is no future left in Malta. We aren't going to waste the last few years of our lives chasing and having to fight like this.”

In their online post, the restaurant thanked customers for their patience as it dealt with the disruption and called on the authorities to provide an explanation that reflected the seriousness of the losses. 

Power cuts are disrupting economic activity - Chamber of Commerce

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry in a statement on Tuesday said it was seriously concerned about the recurring power outages. 

"Whilst one understands that an increased demand increases strain, The Malta Chamber would like to point out that this increase was predictable – given the trends in increase in population, increase in number of tourists and temperature soaring brought about by climate change, all of which place additional and predictable pressures on existing infrastructure. Yet it is evident that the upgrades and forward planning did not keep pace," it said.

It warned that the disruptions are increasingly disrupting economic activity, daily operations and quality of life, ultimately undermining operational reliability and eroding confidence in the country’s infrastructure. This leads to frustration, inefficiencies, lost productivity, and growing uncertainty for businesses.

"The root cause of this energy distribution capacity problem, just like the traffic issue is linked directly with our economic growth model. It is highly evident that the economic growth model based on low value added growth that requires high input of low-skilled workers has reached its physical limits," it said, adding that it had long advocated that transforming the economy to achieve much higher productivity levels should be Malta’s most important holistic project.

"We cannot speak of Malta Vision 2050 when we are still failing at the basics. If we cannot guarantee a reliable electricity supply today, any discussion about the Malta of 2050 risks becoming little more than an exercise in rhetoric," the chamber said.