The huge crowds surrounding Grand Harbour for the recent fireworks festival confirm in no uncertain manner their attraction to a considerable number of people. This is not surprising. The pyrotechnic shows that light up the night sky and illuminate the historic bastions and shimmering water below are a marvel to watch.

Fireworks have weaved their way into the fabric of our culture as shown by the fact that so many people make it a point of going from one feast to another to watch fireworks displays. Fireworks have been allowed to take centre stage in quite a good number of village feasts. This may delight tourists who go to see the spectacle, even if the costs involved in staging the displays, which come out of people's pockets, are astronomical. Another point is that there can be little doubt that they have the undesirable effect of distracting attention away from the main purpose of what is supposed to be a religious celebration.

More than that, and this was in evidence again at the fireworks festival, there is too much emphasis in fireworks displays on the use of excessively loud petards. These provide no visual treat, and only serve to antagonise a substantial proportion of the population as well as causing great discomfort to those who are either sick or elderly. The authorities should at least limit their use immediately.

However, there is an even more serious issue that needs to be addressed. Only last month, a man died in a huge explosion at a fireworks factory in the limits of Mqabba. The blast was so powerful it could be heard for miles around.

This was not an isolated incident, but merely the latest gruesome chapter in a tragic history of fireworks factory explosions, causing injury and death in the passionate pursuit of a task that does not just take over people's lives, but claims them forever without mercy on them or their grieving families.

If a drug is known to cause death it is declared illegal, if the roof of a building is hazardous the place is declared uninhabitable, and if a person is declared unstable he is taken into care. These are all measures that are taken by the state to protect people from themselves. True, such measures fly in the face of the right of an individual to take a free decision to do with himself as he pleases. But they meet with little opposition because there is wide acceptance that they are for the common good.

Why is the same principle not applied for fireworks factories?

Of course, we are not suggesting all fireworks factories have to be closed down. But the illegal ones must be stopped in their tracks, now. Second, the regulations that are in place for fireworks factories must be enforced - and this will be even more important when stricter EU regulations take effect - on a regular basis by the authorities. This is not happening to a satisfactory level at the moment.

Fireworks are a visual spectacle to be enjoyed by everybody: at the right time, in the right place, in the right quantity. It is a truism to say that Maltese life would be less colourful without them. But, like many other areas, their production and use must be tightly regulated. This is in the interest of everybody; not least those who are maimed or killed, their families and those in neighbouring buildings.

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