As government reminds club owners about the recently revised closing hours ahead of New Year’s Eve, nightclub owner MARK GRIMA talks to Raphael Vassallo about the possible unforeseen consequences of a Paceville clampdown in a time of recession
Times are not exactly easy for those in the catering, leisure and hospitality industries: what with rising water and electricity costs, and tourism facing an at best uncertain future.
So when finance minister Tonio Fenech issued a warning last week, reminding bar- and nightclub owners to shut down their establishments at 4am sharp over the festive season, some interpreted it as a wake-up call to the unsustainability of their own businesses. Mark Grima, owner of the Fuego nightclubs in St Julian’s and Ghadira, was among the most vocal in his response: arguing that government had “set out to ruin the nightlife industry.”
“Some businesses lose from 30% to 50% of their income,” Grima tells me with specific reference to the loss of one or maybe two hours of business after 4am. “The first victim, of course, is staff. A lot of businesses have either offloaded staff or altered their employment from full time to part time...”
Part of the problem, Grima argues, is that licence conditions were changed after substantial investments had been made under the old licensing regime.
“When we invested heavily in our businesses, we had an almost 24-hour licence,” he recalls about the situation predating the changes of the mid-1990s. “But suddenly the government shifted the goalposts. This has also had a big impact on tourism, where Malta finds itself competing against countries such as Spain Greece, Turkey and Croatia. These places either do not have such laws, or are regulated in a way that suits both tourism and nightlife entrepreneurs...”
Then, of course, there are counties such as the United Kingdom, which appear to have gone about things the clean opposite way. Up until recently, pubs were licensed to operate until 11pm at the latest. This has since been relaxed, and there is a scale of different opening hours from 11pm to the early hours, depending on one’s licence conditions.
In Britain, one of the main arguments that eventually won the day was the fact that under the previous regime, large crowds of drunk people would suddenly converge on the streets in force after 11pm, starting fights and generally causing trouble. Has there been any evidence to indicate a similar scenario in Malta?
“There is some evidence of this in summer, but not to the extent that it can’t be controlled by policing,” Grima points out. “However, the real issue is that before – when clubs were open till 6 am or even later – clients used to be in a controlled environment: with managers, security and so on. Now, at 4am punters are just being sent out to the streets. Also, because of this law a lot of ‘groups’ of friends are being driven underground – in flats, hotels and even villas, unsupervised. No adult wants to be told want time to go home, but in Malta that’s exactly what ‘Big Daddy’ is doing...”
Has anyone within the industry considered taking legal action on the basis of individual rights?
“We are looking at all avenues at the moment, especially on certain laws. For example, in Malta one may find a law that you will probably find only in China: a policeman ranked inspector or higher can close a venue for 12 hours, a week or even a month without going to court. This law has been enacted recently. Also, a lot of bars are being pressured to lower the music to inoperable levels, when music ‘leaks’ from the venue (through ventilators etc) but does not disturb anyone. Is this law about disturbance or not? There are many other issues on this ‘commercial’ act that we see as unjust. So yes, we are looking into matters, even Constitutionally...”
One little-known side effect of the new opening hours is its effect on an entire category of people who simply do not have the option but to start partying late. This category includes many in the entertainment segment itself – waiters, chefs, dishwashers, etc. – as well as other lines of work (not least newspapers) which involve late hours.
“This law affects a lot of people who work late shifts, even within the industry itself. However, I must stress that people in Malta are used to going out late. Twenty years ago when I started going out with my wife, we used to go out at 11pm or later as many other people of our age did. So how can anyone even try to change a culture now?
Lurking at the back of these and other arguments in an unspoken concern that law enforcement tends to be selective when it comes to choosing which clubs to shut down and which to ignore. But Mark Grima implies that times have changed, and now the issue has less to do with discrimination among different clubs, than with the principle at stake.
“There were times when this was a fact; however, the enforcement seems to be blanket, at least in Paceville. What is for certain is that there is a tremendous amount of pressure applied on Paceville as opposed to other areas. With such laws, crippling electricity bills, high rents and other expenses, many just won’t survive!”
On the flipside, however, there is also the issue of permanent residents in Paceville, whose presence there predates the nightlife establishments by several years – not to mention a quasi-permanent retinue of hotel guests and short-let apartment tenants. These surely have a right to sleep, too... So what efforts have been made by owners of bars and nightclubs to minimise the inconvenience to these people?
“Yes, there is a hotel and a residents issue,” Grima concedes. “A lot has been applied by bar owners in recent months to reduce noise pollution. And it has been reduced to a bare minimum – no one can deny that. But it’s not just bars and clubs that disturb these people. Residents at times are subject to rowdy revellers in the street, high revved car engines and vandalism. It is about time that police apply a zero tolerance policy to undesirable people who hound the area and spoil other customers’ fun. If urinating by a wall, swearing and such like is a crime, then bring the culprits to book. The concentration should not be on bars alone, but on certain members of the public who disturb others. If, that is, this really is all about disturbance, of course...”
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Mark Grima, owner of the Fuego nightclubs in St Julian’s and Ghadira, was among the most vocal in his response: arguing that government had “set out to ruin the nightlife industry.”
