In the wake of Prime Minister Robert Abela announcing bars, restaurants, cinemas and gyms would have to shut their doors temporarily to stem the flow of the COVID-19 pandemic, Eden Leisure Group CEO Simon De Cesare discussed the elephant in the room for thousands of businesses around Malta.

For Mr De Cesare, the decision to close Eden Cinemas had already been taken by the time Prime Minister Abela made the announcement on Monday afternoon, however when asked for a reaction, he commented:

“This interruption doesn’t seem to be a short-term one, so remaining shut with no income and a full payroll is impossible to maintain”. He said this while pointing out how without reasonable assistance from the state, the situation will indeed be impossible.

Explaining his decision to close the cinemas on Monday morning, Mr De Cesare said it was for two reasons: “..firstly, there was very little business, and secondly, we wanted to do our bit to keep people from spreading the virus”.

Mr De Cesare added that the company had already implemented rigorous cleaning regimes hourly, and were limiting the number of people into any screening to 20 per cent of their cinema rooms’ capacity.

He affirmed how together with the company, all are extremely concerned with the current situation. On Monday, Malta recorded its first local transmissions, and the total number of infected increased to 30 cases, with two reportedly having recovered.

“We have not been contacted by anyone in government regarding support, although as an industry we will be appealing for such to be able to retain our staff despite being closed.” Mr De Cesare said.

So far, Government messaging has been mixed.

The first round of measures aimed at safeguarding jobs were announced last weekend and entail self-employed, business-owners and businesses in specific sectors, including recreation, hospitality and tourism, will be eligible for a tax and social-security contribution holiday for March and April.

Reactions have been mixed, with everyone welcoming the move but many adding that it does not go far enough. The Chamber of SMEs, and individuals in the business community, such as QuickLets Co-Founders Michael and Steve Mercieca, believe the Government should tap into its Individual Investor Programme €600 million fund to prop up businesses.

This was quickly shot down by Economy Minister Silvio Schembri, who remarked:

“It would be immature to use the €600 million the country made from the passport sale scheme at one go, just because business is not doing well”

In a Facebook message, he also said: “Businesses who held on to all profits when the going was good cannot expect workers to bear the brunt now, or for taxpayer money to make up for their losses.

“The Government will be there to help businesses to overcome the situation. When the economy was booming, the Government did not raise taxes. Now, the Government expects businesses to show solidarity with their employees.”

Regardless, of how far Government chooses to extend its support, Mr De Cesare discussed the realities facing businesses like his today.

“As an industry we hire quite a number of employees and everyone is unsure what is to come next.

“At present most of our staff are on leave since the establishment is closed however this is a limited measure and if we do not see some reasonable support for our businesses we will inevitably and reluctantly have to let a lot of people go.

“This interruption doesn’t seem to be a short term one so remaining shut with no income and a full payroll is impossible to maintain.”

Eden Leisure Group has a considerable number of business units, with almost all severely impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak: InterContinental Hotels, Eden Cinemas (major refurbish works completed in 2019), Eden SuperBowl, Cynergi Health and Fitness Club, Casino Malta, Holiday Inn Express and 89.7 Bay.