I refer to the reports about the manufacture of fireworks and the correspondence about the subject which appeared on The Times, particularly my letter of December 15, 2007. Extreme circumstances require more extreme and draconian solutions. I would therefore like to offer some suggestions which never made it to the list of recommendations submitted by the commission.
Licensed factories have two designated responsible persons, namely, the owner and the licensee who has to have a Licence A. There are many cases, the majority in fact, where the owner is a community or a society, and the licensee is a Licence A holder who is registered and the person who manages the premises. Then there are also those privately-owned factories where the owner and the licensee are the same person. Those persons who are licensed to manufacture fireworks hold a Licence B and there are also some who hold a Licence A but are not in charge of any factory.
First: Since fireworks can only be manufactured in licensed places, each and every licence holder (both A and B) should have to declare every year, on the renewal of the licence, where he intends to manufacture fireworks.
Second: The owner and the licensee should be obliged to send a quarterly return to the police with a list and details of every person who frequents their factory. This ought to be done quarterly because of the great movement of licensed persons from one place to another. Those who are familiar with the world of local fireworks manufacture know what I am writing about.
Third: The licence of those persons who are not listed in any factory should be frozen and then thawed once their name appears on a list.
Fourth: Owners/licensees guilty of abusing these rules by subscribing through the signing of permits on behalf of unlicensed persons ought to have their licence withdrawn and their factory closed down. This is the only effective deterrent, not fines or imprisonment.
Who has the courage to enact these recommendations? Let us have a show of hands and action, not rhetoric.