Thursday, 24th April 2008 - 11:46CET
MUT meets fireworks factory official
The public relations officer of St Michael’s fireworks factory of Lija has met officials of the Malta Union of Teachers in a bid to assure them that nearby schools are in no danger.
The union earlier this week ordered part of the grounds of Giovanni Curmi Upper Secondary School to be closed because of its proximity to an area from where petards are let off.
The union said that fireworks factory official, Joseph Mangion, called at the Teachers’ Institute to explain that the fireworks factory was built according to legal requirements and no danger existed to the schools complex in Naxxar.
He agreed to provide the union with official documentation certifying that the distance between the fireworks factory and the schools conforms with the law. He also offered to provide all the necessary guarantees for the protection of the artificial turf recently laid on the grounds of the Upper Secondary School.
The fireworks factory will also ensure that the area is free from any unexploded material when petards are let off for the feast of Our Saviour at Lija, as has always been done.
Discussion will continue so as to ascertain peace of mind of all concerned, the MUT said.
RSS
Comments
The question is at what time workers produce fireworks. Is this done during school hours? Have the school authorities ever been informed about what goes on in the factory during school days and school hours? It is right for the MUT to be concerned, but it should check the facts before taking a position and making public statements. The MUT should not go from one extreme of doing nothing for 40 years about an issue to another extreme of alarming students, parents and teachers without reasonable cause to appear to be doing something.
What happens when petards are fired from a hill still 183 metres away from houses? Since the hill is very high the whole residential area under the hill fills with unexploded bombs and very cancerous chemicals! This practice happens in Gozo especially in Victoria.
I wonder how many crocodile tears the ministers will have for this year's fireworks victims? I also truly wonder when the Police are going to start safe guarding the public and using common sense which seems immensely lacking from the Maltese Authorities?