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Julian Manduca
2005 is expected be a momentous year for restaurants, bars, nightclubs, discos and kiosks, but not because they will be breaking sales records. As from yesterday the new health and safety regulations - dubbed by some bar owners as Mickey Mouse laws - for all such establishments came into force and by April of this year all will be no-smoking zones unless the necessary arrangements for smokers are made.
During the sweltering days of August this year MaltaToday highlighted a new set of rules and regulations which some bar owners will find difficult to understand, let alone implement. The regulations are run of the mill for many establishments and do not go beyond what would be normally expected in any locale that is open to the public, but for some traditional Maltese teetotler bars, implementing them will be like changing night into day.
According to the new regulations all snack bars in Malta are expected, among other things, to carry out a yearly evacuation exercise, have non-slip kitchen floors, prohibit eating in kitchens, list the maximum number of patrons outside the establishment and have staff wearing clean and ironed clothes. Even restaurants are expected to ban eating in the kitchen when it is common practice for chefs to taste food that has been or is being prepared. All discotheques will have to have emergency lighting in all evacuation ways.
Outside MaltaToday little has been said about the new regulations, and many bar owners that this newspaper spoke to are still unaware of what is expected of them.
Several complained they did not receive a copy of the regulations and when a MaltaToday journalist visited them in summer the general reaction in some of the more basic bars was that the regulations were Mickey Mouse ones, or that they were impossible to implement. The official reaction was that from the authorities there will be some flexibility in the enforcement of the regulations, but nobody knows who will be flexible with whom or to what extent. Public awareness of the regulations remains low and a cursory survey of bars and other establishments this week indicated that no effort has been made to come in line with the new law.
The smoking ban on bars and restaurants larger than 60 square metres came into force 1 October and has been heralded both a success and a failure. Non-smokers are clearly enjoying the no-smoke atmosphere, while smokers are not pleased to be told what to do, but enforcement has been weak with even PN clubs allowing smokers a field day. The smoke ban sent people outside the bars in the warmer days, irritating, and not just a bit, residents that live in the vicinity.
The GRTU hospitality and leisure section has claimed revenue at establishments is down and although the smoking ban may not be the cause, the GRTU would like us to believe so.
The number of bars and restaurants in Malta is continually on the increase with many opening up outside the normal entertainment zones. Owners are facing increased competition and ‘underground’ parties are also cutting into their takings but, as always, some establishments continue to enjoy good custom and thrive, while others – one would assume those that do not offer a good product - slide under.
julian@newsworksltd.com
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