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All legal notices are henceforth to be vetted by the Prime minister’s office prior to being published. This is welcome news for all entrepreneurs burdened with excessive administration. It had become common practice for government departments to issue legal notices without sufficient consultation and more worryingly without sufficient appreciation of the economic and social repercussions. This crash landing attitude has been felt on a number of occasions by the places of entertainment after the prohibition of smoking in public places legal notice as well as by the suppliers and consumers of drinks and food in the case of the eco-contribution on plastic bag regulations.
It is clear that an attitude of publish and see later had become commonplace. Regulations are being specifically drafted with little thought and much haste. The net result of this amateurism has been a shocked marketplace and stockholders are nervously fearful of what is to come next. As a result the confidence so necessary in the psyche of any enterprising person is fast drying up. Equally at stake is the confidence people retain in the government. As a result of these hastily drafted regulations there is a growing lack of confidence in the government.
The free flowing of legal notices is evidence that the government is civil service driven. There can be little explanation how legal notices are being published devoid of any political and social sensitivity. While civil servants are renowned for a policy of regulate and see later, it is amazing how ministers supposedly schooled in the art of government do not appreciate the consequences of these same regulations.
It is earnestly hoped that with all regulations having to be vetted by the prime ministers office, a clear indictment of the slapdash way the regulations are being issued, there will be more attention to detail and to the consequences the regulations ignite. It is also encouraging to see that not only ministries but entities and authorities are to be placed under prime ministerial scrutiny and particularly that the drafting and the translation is to be done by the attorney general’s office.
So basic are such requirements that it has come as a surprise to most that the procedure now being introduced had not been entrenched for years. Hopefully this will make civil servants that much more careful and meticulous before rushing to the publication of regulations.
At the heart of the unbearable ‘free flowing’ legal notices’ comment of the director general of the GRTU lies his fear, shared by many a business person that the policy of this government is not sufficiently business friendly.
The red tape and countless regulations being introduced is leaving the entrepreneurial class little time to concentrate on running their businesses. Hence Vince Farrugia’s insistence that regulations are analysed also on the basis of their business friendliness before being published. Government must come to terms and appreciate that the business climate in the country is a difficult one. This newspaper has, on countless occasions, insisted that government must introduce incentives and ventures which will help kick-start the economy. The recently announced venture capital schemes are a step in the right direction. Hopefully these schemes will prove successful in setting up new businesses. Hereto a cultural change of mentality is required. It is both unfair and counter-productive that Maltese banks are very willing to loan capital to businessman that offer property as collateral yet so unwilling to help businessmen with a good idea, but unable to offer property as collateral. This shortcoming has traditionally prohibited persons who are creative and in possession of good ideas from making progress in the business world. It is ardently hoped that the new venture capital schemes to be driven by Malta Enterprise will help overcome this shortcoming which is having dire consequences on our economy. If the Maltese banks could play their part in establishing venture capital schemes too, the necessary kick-start to the economy could materialise.
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