The police will allow fireworks shipped to Gozo to be unloaded in other bays too apart from Ħondoq ir-Rummien.

So far, fireworks have always been offloaded in Qala’s picturesque bay because it is the closest point to Malta.

Qala mayor Clint Camilleri said when contacted yesterday that Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit had replied to an e-mail on the matter saying that the police would issue permits for fireworks to be offloaded in other bays too, depending on where they were destined for.

The council had publicly declared earlier in the day it was determined not to allow fireworks shipped to Gozo for feasts there to be offloaded at Ħondoq ir-Rummien and then carried on truck through the village core.

It said residents had put up with the practice for years but this had to stop. The council insisted that the fireworks should be unloaded in a bay closest to their destination, thus reducing dangerous land transport.

Villagers had to watch helplessly as truckloads of fireworks rumbled through the streets

Mr Camilleri said that if fireworks were to be unloaded at Ħondoq ir-Rummien, the council should be informed in advance and be given enough time to inform residents of the potential danger.

Since explosions have destroyed most of the fireworks factories in Gozo over the past few years, pyrotechnics for village feasts are being produced in Malta and then transported by sea to the sister island.

In September last year, Qala deputy mayor Paul Buttigieg had embarked on a campaign urging the authorities to change this practice, which, he insisted, was placing Qala residents at risk. He said that practically every week throughout the festa season, villagers had to watch helplessly as truckloads of fireworks rumbled through the streets of their locality.

“This is not a one-off situation but happens almost every week throughout most of summer.

“All Gozo’s fireworks are unloaded at Ħondoq, the island’s eastern harbour, then transported on roads of varying quality to all the villages, including San Lawrenz, at the opposite end of the island,” he had told Times of Malta.

Mr Buttigieg insisted that fireworks should be unloaded at bays closer to their end destination, such as Dwejra for the Għarb feast, Qbajjar for the Żebbuġ, Mġarr ix-Xini for Sannat and Xatt l-Aħmar for Għajnsielem.