Updated 1.15pm Seventy-nine NGOs including some of Malta's largest civil society organisations have jointly called for the government to withdraw and new laws regarding fundraising and charity shops. Their joint call has been echoed by the National Band Club Association, which in a statement said that the new laws would disrupt the work done by the 90 band clubs it represents. The new laws seek to strengthen transparency and accountability by NGOs collecting money to finance their activities. Passed last year, they are due to come into force in July. But NGOs says the laws will add a lot of red tape to organisations that are not prepared for it and were introduced without any consultation, despite legislation for the sector encouraging it. In a joint statement, the 79 NGOs said the new laws “are going further than their declared scope and in certain aspects are introducing unnecessary duplication of work that is going to result in a huge loss in financial income” for organisations that are already cash-strapped following the pandemic. Signatories range from smaller NGOs to national ones such as Dar tal-Providenza, Puttinu Cares and Moviment Graffitti. NGOs said the new...