I have been closely involved in the business of helping to protect Malta’s cultural heritage since my return 16 years ago. However, there are two aspects of that heritage – hunting and fireworks manufacture – which, even though they arouse genuine and deep-seated passions among those who are involved in them, now require a hard-nosed reality check.

Responsibility for the ramshackle state of fireworks safety rests ultimately with the politicians- Martin Scicluna

Both hunting and fireworks are the victims of Malta’s sweeping social and economic progress of the last half century as evidenced by the building booms, consequent loss of countryside, high home ownership and the fruits of universal education. A more informed and sophisticated society has moved on culturally from the crude attractions of hunting and fireworks manufacture, seen now as minority interests (albeit with loud voices and some electoral clout).

I shall say no more about hunting here. As to fireworks manufacture, while I am prepared to concede that it may well be seen by some as a national, traditional pastime “which forms a part of the Maltese identity”, the issue now is whether the explosions and death and destruction which have annually rocked so many sites in Malta and Gozo are an acceptable price for society to pay for the continuation of the current fireworks manufacturing regime.

The National Fireworks Conference on December 1 appeared to think so and, indeed, there were calls from Labour’s Shadow Home Affairs Spokesman for even more factories (there are already almost 40 dotted around our countryside) to be built in Malta and Gozo. I disagree, not on grounds of “culture” but of common-sense.

A study conducted in the United Kingdom showed that statistically, between 1950 and 1977, the incidence of fireworks factory accidents there was 0.0001 per year. If the same rate were applied to Malta, taking due account of differences in size, the Maltese Islands would experience one accident every 250 years. Instead, however, between 1980 and 2010, fireworks have led to an average of over two accidents each year. This is a tragic and unacceptable statistical roll-call which any civilised society should seek to reverse.

Responsibility for the ramshackle state of fireworks safety rests ultimately with the politicians who have the power to legislate for higher safety standards but have signally failed to do so. There has been a studied neglect of the issue by both political parties for fear of antagonising a body of potential voters who could sway the outcome of an election. Both parties pander to this lobby, whose influence and tentacles reach the highest echelons of both, in one case right to the top.

This is clearly apparent from the way the experts’ report, commissioned two years ago in the wake of the first Għarb tragedy, has been handled. The report, which took more than a year to be produced, was delivered to the Government in December last year. Incredibly, no action has yet been taken.

Given that the experts had predicted that “Malta would experience at least one large-scale fatal fireworks accident next year (2012) or in 2013” unless regulations were urgently amended and certain mixtures banned – a prediction which chillingly came about at Għarb recently – it is extraordinary that both the Government and Opposition are prepared to connive at this delay while members of society – not simply fireworks dilettanti – are placed at risk. The words of one prominent member of the board of inquiry, “We need to implement the recommendations immediately, as we are literally playing with fire” ring very hollow.

To see the politicians’ complacency in the face of the experts’ pleas for urgency to ban dangerous chemicals already banned abroad, that are still being used by local amateur pyrotechnics enthusiasts (dilettanti) almost a year after the board made its strong recommendations, is the height of political irresponsibility, especially since banning specific chemical mixtures would be a relatively easy measure that could be taken immediately.

The proposal for more fireworks factories to be built is utterly implausible as well as impractical given Malta’s dense over-development. Worse, it flies in the face of the need to work towards a more professional, better regulated and more concentrated, in space and number, manufacturing industry.

In an advanced democracy, three immediate steps would have been implemented by now. First, the Government would have instituted an immediate moratorium on the manufacture of fireworks until the full implementation of the Board of Inquiry’s report.

Secondly, pending a possible move towards a total ban on the manufacture of pyrotechnics by unqualified amateurs, the Government, with the full support of the Opposition, would have taken immediate steps to implement the recommendations of the board’s report.

The shilly-shallying of the last 12 months must stop. The political manoeuvering must cease. The need for stringent safety regulations to be introduced urgently should be paramount.

Thirdly, this would allow the necessary breathing space for the possibility of an outright ban of fireworks manufacture (in its current spread of scattered, high-risk factories run on an amateur basis, threatening every part of the country) to be objectively re-considered, with society’s safety being the paramount consideration.

The move towards the establishment of a unified, fully professional fireworks manufacturing regime would take time. But the advantages on grounds of society’s safety would be unarguable.

The manufacture of fireworks would not cease, but instead it would be concentrated in the hands of one or two fireworks factories – properly established, professionally run and strictly regulated – which would sell their products to the band clubs directly.

This is what happens in major countries abroad. There is every reason to suppose it would work here too. Spectacular fireworks to celebrate our glorious village festas would still happen, but their manufacturing safety would be radically improved.