I do not understand why the exhibitors and general public are being deprived of another venue for the organisation of fairs, namely the ever so popular Trade Fair Grounds Naxxar. We are living at a time when Malta is proud of being an EU country. We boast of having free trade, liberalisation and globalisation. We are against monopolies, no matter where they come from

I refer to an editorial in The Times sometime in January of this year, where it was questioned whether there is room for two venues. This really came as a surprise from a newspaper which was always in favour of free trade, which the EU membership so rightly brought to Malta.

We have hundreds of the same businesses in Malta that have to compete with each others, such as furniture showrooms, supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, as well as several radio stations and several daily and weekly newspapers. So what is so wrong with having two fair venues?

The argument against having more than one fair was that exhibitors will have to participate in more than one fair at a cost that at the time they cannot afford. The same happens to the same people in business when they advertise their products. They have to do so on various media in order to reach a larger section of the general public.

With the same argument brought by The Times we will ban all radios and all newspapers and keep only one of each. It would really save money for advertisers as well as those who have to buy several papers to keep themselves adjourned. But this is absurd in this time and age. So let common sense prevail and I urge the authorities not to deprive us of pluralistic activities and the right of choice.

Sandra Mizzi

Santa Venera