Sky Lanterns removed from the market

Schembri Ray

Dec 13th 2011, 20:42

Fil-festa tas-Siġġiewi għal naqra ma inħaraqx paviljun. Sew jgħamlu jekk ma jaħarquhomx.

Sylvana Camilleri

Dec 13th 2011, 08:46

I was in Valletta on the day of the annual President's ball in summer, and there were hundreds of them going up in the sky....for all the presidential guest to enjoy! were these lanterns illegal then?

David Elden

Dec 13th 2011, 07:12

A little bit like fireworks!!!!

j camilleri

Dec 13th 2011, 05:36

what about banning illegal use of fireworks too??? From where i can see it there have been more fatalities with fireworks explosions rather than lanterns!!! there are a lot of people abusing and using illegal fireworks ...do you remember the guy that blew up the apartments above his garage just because it was his pleasure and hobby ...great !! just great i say take legal actions immediately but unfortunately there is no discipline in this country and we never learn !!

Judith Contaldo

Dec 12th 2011, 21:44

I work in a shop where they recently where confiscated. My employers contacted the company abroad and below is what they replied.

Sky Orbs are fireproof, the paper used in the balloon and the string used to hold the fuel is totally fireproof.
100% of a Sky Orb is biodegradable and poses no threat to farm or wild animals in the time it is decomposing.

Sky Orbs use basic physics to float… as long as the fuel is ignited and burning, the air in the balloon is heating. Until this fuel has extinguished it will NOT come back to earth, so any lanterns on the ground will not be ignited if the safety instructions have been followed fully.

We developed the product in conjunction with Trading Standards here in the UK. Our design is a safer and environmental improvement on a 2,000 year old traditional Chinese/Thailand design.

Although there is currently no testing relevant to Sky Lanterns, we have regular meetings with Trading Standards (the most recent being last week) and are in excess of the current UK recommended safety instructions on the packaging.

It's interesting to note that last year, German authorities placed a temporary ban on Sky Lanterns while they researched the dangers posed, and after several months the ban was lifted in January this year.

D Psaila

Dec 12th 2011, 18:23

In the UK, as well as being dangerous to cattle and a fire risk they are also causing problems with search and rescue as some have been mistaken for flares. They are already banned at Glastonbury and I think they may have been banned in Germany too.

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16014610

Joe Vella

Dec 12th 2011, 17:07

@joe debono: Cars contain diesel, oil,... all of which are combustible. Houses may have combustible materials on the roof (eg. wood ladders...), they also usually have wood doors and windows. Fields often contain dry weeds which obviously would combust if a lantern lands there. And let's face it, who the hell wants a buning lantern to land on his/her car, even if it does not combust. Iddahhaqx sur debono. Watch your language when speaking to a very competent authority.

Saviour Deguara

Dec 12th 2011, 16:42

While reading the comments below, I decided to write something: You cannot mix fireworks and these lanterns.....fireworks are lit off by licenced people in a required distance covered with insurance and police permit while these lanterns can be lit off from everywere by everyone with no control where it is going and worst you don't know were it is going to land..... So I think it is a good decision to stop sky lanterns!

Joe Debono

Dec 12th 2011, 15:27

Absolutely ridiculous! Highly combustible materials such as houses, fields and cars? What the heck are houses, fields and cars made of where you come from? Kerosene-doused paper mache? It seems to me that the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority has nothing better to do than to waste their time and people's tax money on trivial matters such as this. I have a suggestion for them. Please clamp down on Vodafone, Melita, Go, etc... and their harassment of the general public via their telemarketing campaigns. I'm sick of being contacted to subscribe to packages I don't require or desire. Especially while driving!

Joe Xuereb

Dec 12th 2011, 15:04

Anything that is potentially dangerous should be banned. The law will do the rest. The same argument goes for banning cannabis. The law allows cigarette smoking - just - and the sale of alcohol. But nobody is forced to drink or smoke or use cannabis. And I would choose not to set off fireworks or 'have fun' using these lanters. But why should I, or a cow, be a victim of someone who likes these lanterns? In any case, these lanterns are a hazard before they even lift off. As in, fire and paper in drugged or drunken hands?!

Mr Duncan Scerri

Dec 12th 2011, 14:04

But petards are okay?

Seriously FUBAR.

Mr Tony Gatt

Dec 12th 2011, 13:52

There is much controversy about these lanterns in the U.K. Their remains end up in fields and the wires sometimes get ingested by cattle which die as a result.

Carlo Laurenti

Dec 12th 2011, 13:52

'a serious risk' to consumers'.....Give me a break! Those lanterns are sold in every store in the UK and cost less than £1.00 each! I personally have used them numerous times and they post no risk what so ever if used correctly. Fire works are far a greater risk should those be banned and do everyone a favour?

In the UK many buildings are timber buildings, cattle run loose in the fields, farms have numerous timber barns and yet in Malta they pose a serious risk! Who is the genius who decided this? These lanterns are designed to rise up into the clouds, work with a small wick that produces hot air into the unit causing it to rise, and eventually goes out as either the wick burns out or it get to high for any oxygen, the only thing that is left of the unit is a paper bag!

Carlo Laurenti - Derbyshire, England

Juanita Cassar

Dec 12th 2011, 13:41

They had already been banned a few months back.

David Smith

Dec 12th 2011, 13:26

Shouldn't MCCAA also have a look at the so-called joke gimmicks, especially stink bombs? These are readily available, and freely sold at village festas. Apart from being totally "unfunny", they are a nuisance and could potentially cause a hazard to the general public if used in enclosed spaces because of the hydrogen sulphide which they produce.

C Cassar

Dec 12th 2011, 13:15

Good news. These are fires waiting to happen.

D. A . Agius

Dec 12th 2011, 12:34

Eh, finalmente!

Clemens Hasengschwandtner

Dec 12th 2011, 12:26

uweja, they are such fun. In Thailand and other asian coutries they get released during weddings and other ceremonies for good luck. They look really fantastic - especially if there are many released at the same time. In Malta we have constantly fires due to fireworks - hardly a firework display goes by without setting something on fire - so why bann these lanterns?