Police Commissioner refuses to close Msida roads to let off fireworks

The Police Commissioner has refused to close two arterial roads in Msida in order to let off fireworks for the feast this weekend, in a decision which breaks a decade-long trend.

The move is likely to mean that there will be no fireworks in the locality over the weekend because the only other alternative is to launch them from a barge at sea, which would create a massive security threat to the yachts in the marina.

A request was filed by the Msida pyrotechnics society to close the Sta Venera bypass and Regional Road in order to let off the fireworks from a ridge overlooking Valley Road.

As in the past, local enthusiasts were expecting an unproblematic go-ahead before Frank Bartolo, the superintendent at Mater Dei Hospital, launched an appeal to the authorities not to allow the roads to be closed as it could have dangerous consequences on the hospital's running.

The Police Commissioner had hinted at his decision in recent comments he made on the subject, stressing that this year there was the hospital to take into account.

Police sources said the decision has now been taken and is final.

The Msida band club president, Vince Azzopardi, had insisted in an angered reaction, on having the roads closed, saying that those who did not like the arrangement should steer clear of Msida.

Anyone trying to have traffic through would do so "over my dead body" he had told The Sunday Times acrimoniously.

When contacted yesterday, he was in a more peaceful mood. "I have nothing to do with the fireworks as such and I was talking about the closure of the streets in Msida centre, which needed to be closed for the festa".

The questions addressed to him referred specifically to the arterial roads. Moreover, he clearly took ownership of the fireworks when he argued that there was no alternative to letting off fireworks from where they do at the moment.

Still, he insisted that he was merely "sympathetic" with the people who organise the fireworks.

His reaction, along with the traffic nightmare which the closure creates every year, sparked a negative public reaction which included that of the College of Parish Priests, which expressed concern over the risk to patients and the inconvenience it would cause to their relatives. The college even denounced Mr Azzopardi's comments, saying that his attitude was not worthy of a modern society, a Christian and a person holding a position of responsibility in the organisation of a Christian feast.

The band club, however, backed the president saying that he did not intend to be disrespectful to hospital patients or their relatives.