The fireworks culture has caused many tragedies in our islands, but we soon overlook them and go on dabbling in fireworks , continuing to ignore the do’s and don’ts of this highly dangerous business.

A case in point – a few days ago was down in Ħondoq ir-Rummien enjoying an early morning swim. It was 9 a.m., and there were already a few dozen people and a number of parked cars. Suddenly I saw a boat mooring, trucks parking and a police officer marching up and down – and what was it all for? The unloading of hundreds of fireworks, including huge petards! This has happened before, and locals have written about it. Obviously, no one has done anything about it.

There were swimmers a matter of metres away, a kiosk less than 10 metres away, and the umbrella for hire kiosk just centimetres away (literally). Fireworks should be unloaded in the early hours of the morning (I believe this is what the law says), when the beach and village streets are empty and the fireworks are not exposed to the sun. And when you see all this unloading done by shirtless, beer-bellied men and youngsters, you start wondering what century Malta is in.

So what are the authorities waiting for? Another tragedy in which everybody starts denying responsibility? The authorities are aware of what is going on, since a police officer was posted, even though there wasn’t much he could do – for example, the cars that had already been parked near the unloading area remained there. And had there been an explosion – the very thought makes one shudder.

So listen to the old adage: prevention is better than cure.