Enforcement or, rather, the lack thereof, is one of the most common gripes in Malta. From parking to construction, and from health and safety to banking, several thousand inspections and enforcement actions are carried out every year.
For example, nearly 2,500 construction sites were inspected across Malta and Gozo last year, of which 1,570 were found to be non-compliant. Every year, the Occupational Health and Safety Authority carries out 3,700 inspections, while the Malta Tourism Authority performs almost 2,000 on accommodation properties. The Malta Financial Services Authority currently regulates over 2,300 banks, payment institutions, funds and insurance companies.
The bustling gaming sector is no stranger to this, as 2017 saw a total of 14,826 inspections on land-based establishments – 10,417 of which were specifically casinos.
Traffic did not stop Transport Malta from doing its part, with over 14,000 contraventions dished out in 2018, and over 18,000 emissions reports received, mostly through its SMS reporting system.
With the economy booming and the workload on the authorities increasing, The Malta Independent on Sunday takes a closer look at some of the major entities that uphold the law.
While there are numerous entities in other areas of the economy, we requested information on the inner workings of six of the most commonly mentioned entities on the island.
Planning Authority (PA)
In total, 52 people work at the Planning Authority’s Enforcement Directorate, 30 of whom carry out site inspections at an average of 105 each day.
This includes reports, compliance certificates, routine inspections, updates of enforcement notices issued, follow-up inspections and monitoring of permits issued.
The directorate was requested, in June 2018, to assist the Building Regulations Office in the monitoring and enforcement of the Construction Site Management Regulations on sites where construction and related activities are ongoing.
Nearly 2,500 construction sites were inspected all around Malta and Gozo, with 1,570 sites found to be non-compliant with the points of focus. The property owners were provided with the necessary guidance to address such issues within a specific time frame.
A second round of inspections was carried out after 15 days, yielding more positive results. In fact, 1,260 construction sites had become compliant with the minimum requirements. Unfortunately, 310 sites remained non-compliant and stop notices had to be issues. Within the subsequent two weeks, 262 of these construction sites had complied with the instructions given by the directorate’s officers.
Since 48 sites remained non-compliant with the minimum requirements, the sites were physically sealed off and no access was allowed until the problems had been rectified.
By the end of 2018, only 11 of the original 2,500 construction sites still had Construction Site Management Regulations issues and, consequently, remained sealed off.
Occupational Health & Safety Authority (OHSA)
The OHSA currently has 20 members of staff empowered to carry out inspections, two of whom carry out work exclusively for the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Commission.
Apart from inspecting places of work, OHS officers are expected to carry out a full range of duties, which include awareness raising, dissemination of information and the preparation of guidance documents, prosecution and court appearances, and technical report vetting.
Just over 3,700 inspections are carried out annually by officers who operate in pairs.
Quantifying the number of inspections carried out daily is impossible, as a single inspection may require a full week, while others may require only a few hours, allowing officers to carry out a number of inspections a day.
Apart from registered companies, enterprises, factories, hospitals and clinics, storage sites, offices and other industrial concerns, many other work activities are of a transient or temporary nature.
Findings from multiple evaluations by the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee on behalf of the EU Commission, the last being in 2016, have found, among other things, that, in spite of its small size, the organisation is well-organised and functions efficiently.
Some tasks were noted to depend on certain key personnel, to the point that financial, human and technical support resources of the OHSA are not proportional to the duties and functions assigned.
Malta Gaming Authority (MGA)
The MGA currently has a number of directors that monitor and supervise licensees at various stages throughout their lifecycle. The Regulatory Directorate and the Enforcement Directorate are led by their respective chief officers and share 97 staffers (39 from the Regulatory Directorate and 58 from the Enforcement Directorate).
The total number of inspections carried out by the inspectorate on land-based establishments in 2017 numbered 14,826, with the most commonly inspected establishments being casinos (10,417) and gaming parlours (2,190).
The inspectorate’s presence at land-based casinos is felt daily. On the other hand, anti-money laundering inspections are planned a year in advance via a supervisory plan jointly drawn up with the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit and selected according to a subject person’s risk score.
System audits are performed before a licence is granted, while compliance audits are triggered throughout the duration of a licensee’s lifetime.
Other checks, such as ongoing monitoring by the Criminal Probity Department, or the monthly assessments of player funds by the Regulatory Supervision Directorate, do not require physical inspection.
Other establishments include commercial bingo, non-profit tombola, national lottery points of sale, and national lottery draws. Sixteen inspections were also carried out with regards to illegal gambling.
Depending on the breach, the Malta Gaming Authority is able to take a number of different enforcement measures, including, but not limited to, the power to suspend or cancel licences and the power to impose administrative penalties or fines by agreement in lieu of criminal prosecution.
In cases where an offence is of a criminal nature, the authority may also report a person to the police for prosecution.
Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA)
Around 250 members of staff are involved in the supervisory activities of the MFSA, which includes both off-site and on-site inspections. The MFSA currently aims to increase its supervisory staff by 120 by 2021. This should increase the authority’s supervisory capacity.
The MFSA currently regulates over 2,300 licence holders, including banks, payment institutions, funds and insurance companies, and it adopts a risk-based approach to its supervisory activities in order to effectively oversee a large and growing sector.
The MFSA has the power to take enforcement action against any licence holder, which may include administrative penalties, public censure, prohibition, suspension of licences, and criminal or civil proceedings, depending on the nature of the breach and the evidence obtained from the investigations carried out.
Malta Tourism Authority (MTA)
There are currently 19 officers who conduct inspections/enforcement duties throughout Malta and Gozo.
Every year, officers carry out monitoring inspections at all hotels, guesthouses and hostels, while testing a sample of 950 furnished holiday properties, 600 host families and B&Bs, along with 400 catering establishments and all dive centres.
In addition, the directorate investigates all complaints received and performs around 1,950 inspections in view of new applications prior to licensing the properties. Spot checks are also held regularly at various strategic locations to ensure proper guiding and diving practices, while over 200 inspections are carried out in relation to beach management.
Those found in breach of the law may either be served with an enforcement notice to cease operation with immediate effect or to rectify the deficiencies within a time frame determined by the authority.
The directorate is also legally empowered to revoke licences, and the authority may also fine operators through an administrative fine notice or arraignment in court.
Transport Malta (TM)
The Land Enforcement Directorate of Transport Malta has a complement of 100 officers.
While a number are specifically dedicated to patrols, inspections and daily report follow-ups, a large number of these officers are on traffic management duty across the various roadwork sites on the island.
In 2017, Transport Malta re-introduced clamping, mostly to tackle the problem of illegally parked foreign-plated cars. Since then, the authority clamped over 1,100 vehicles.
In 2018, TM’s enforcement officers issued over 14,000 contraventions, almost half of which related to disregarded traffic signs or carriageway markings. During the same period, officers impounded more than 400 vehicles.
Officers from the Vehicle Inspection Unit conduct on-site inspections by flagging down visibly non-compliant vehicles and producing a report of all irregularities. TM then issues an appointment for a follow-up inspection to ascertain that the irregularities have been ironed out. Until then, the vehicle’s licence cannot be renewed.
In 2018, this unit inspected over 3,500 vehicles.
The authority also acts on reports it receives through its various channels, where visible proof of some irregularity is provided. TM receives an average of 10 reports a day about irregular vehicles.
Transport Malta also acts on emissions reports, mostly received through SMS, of which, in 2018, the authority received over 18,000. The authority issues an appointment to check vehicles that receive three or more reports within three months.