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James Debono
The Malta Transport Authority (ADT) has still not issued Carmel Mifsud, a man who wants to work in the funeral business, with a licence to operate a hearse despite a decision by the Commission for Fair Trade that nothing prevents the entrepreneur “from penetrating this market and to compete in it fairly.”
According to the July 2004 decision, the Commission said the ADT’s competence is limited to the issue of driving licences and no official body has the authority to control the funeral market.
Mifsud has spent Lm80,000 to buy a new hearse and a Mercedes but these are still in a garage awaiting a licence. The Transport Authority and the Ministry for Competitiveness will not comment on this issue because the matter is still subject to proceedings in the Commission for Fair Trade.
At present the funeral market is a closed shop where only 10 persons in Malta and one in Gozo have a licence to operate motor hearses.
The 10 Maltese operators are all members of the Kooperattiva ghall-Garr tal-Mejtin. Apart from transporting the dead, the cooperative also offers transport for the priest presiding the funeral service.
In its original decision the Commission for Fair Trading upheld the Office for Fair Competition’s conclusions that the Malta Transport Authority could not be considered as an undertaking and thus was not subject to the provisions of the Competition Act.
But in its decision the Commission for Fair Trade also stated “the ten members of the co-operative are under the illusion that they are protected without any fear of fair competition.”
But the president of the cooperative, John Bray, insists they were given a written guarantee by the government that following EU membership no new licences will be issued in this sector. Bray insists the monopoly enjoyed by members makes sense because only 2,500 people die in Malta every year.
This means that less than seven funerals are held every day – barely enough work for the eleven existing co-operatives.
Bray also contends that competition will only serve to ruin existing licence owners who offer a good and cheap service. “We only charge Lm50 for the hire of two cars,” Bray says.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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