‘Let Us Work’: Malta’s Entertainment And Culture Industries Join Forces For Parliamentary Petition On Events
Strength in numbers is about to be put to the ultimate test, with a parliamentary petition being launched by Malta’s entertainment industry in response to yesterday’s revelations that no outdoor events will be allowed to happen this summer.
Appealing to Malta’s health authorities to “restart our cultural and social life safely”, the petition is not meant to be event-specific, keeping in mind that even smaller-scale cultural activities have seemingly been hit by the latest revelations.
“It’s time to open up,” one promoter told Lovin Malta following hours of outrage from the country’s DJs and promoters. “We’ve been cautious for months, we’ve worked hard towards becoming the best country in the world in terms of vaccinations and active cases. Now, our message is simple: please, let us work.”
“If the vaccine really works, why are we not allowed to reopen? Things will go underground with illegal parties if clubs are closed.”
The petition calls for outdoor cultural and social events to be allowed this summer with no social distancing in place, provided one very important point: only for fully vaccinated people.
“People also need to understand that for many, a mass event means thousands of people,” another promoter continued. “We are not after that right now. We want to open for at least 300 to 500 people, with limited capacities.”
“Chris Fearne and Robert Abela both promised us that we’d be able to restart everything when we hit herd immunity. So what’s the sudden hold-up?”
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“As we enter a new phase, with Malta just weeks away from successfully vaccinating the whole adult population of Malta, we are disappointed that we are once again being denied the liberty to protect our livelihoods and get back to work,” the petition reads.
“Thousands of highly-skilled workers and their families have been impacted. More than one year of no paychecks, severely reduced revenues and monthly wages, not to mention the severe mental health challenges experienced by out-of-work artists, audiovisual experts, event management companies, cleaning professionals, and many others.”
“We are calling on the Public Health Authorities and the Government to explore all possibilities for the safe and successful reopening of the Entertainment Industry, just as it did with all other sectors of the economy,” the petition continues, before going on to cite countries that have successfully organised trialed events like the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain.
“We have no political agenda,” the petition finishes. “We represent a complete supply chain, contributing to 7.9% of Malta’s GDP, that has been left in the dark.”
The petition closes for signatures on 20th July, and is currently already circulating across a number of social media platforms.
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