Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said today that no deadline had been set on the work of the board of inquiry on the fireworks factory explosions because the most important thing was that the work was through and established the truth.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici also argued that he is against a moratorium on fireworks production since this could be counter-productive (see video).

The minister explained that if a moratorium was to be imposed on the manufacture of fireworks, the manufacturers would have less time to produce the fireworks needed for the next festa season. This would create unnecessary pressure which could potentially cause accidents.

Former Armed Forces commander, Brigadier Carmel Vassallo in comments to The Times today agreed with the moratorium idea although he insisted there had to be a specific timeframe. “We cannot have an open-ended moratorium. If it comes into force, the board has to have a specific timeframe by when to conclude its investigations.”

Lawyer Stefan Camilleri, who is representing residents whose homes were damaged by a fireworks factory explosion in Għargħur in 2007, believed the moratorium was not the ideal solution. He pressed for a proper authority that would carry out regular checks at fireworks factories and impose hard-hitting sanctions against people found in breach of any regulations.

Dr Camilleri said such authority would also have the duty to protect the lives of innocent people who had to live in the danger of factories close to their homes whether they liked it or not.

“Fireworks are part of our culture, so it is difficult to do away with them. The solution, however, is not a moratorium but seeing all the safety measures are in place and the raw material being used are of optimum quality. We also need to reduce or curb once and for all the competition between different factories,” he said.

Lawyer Georg Sapiano said someone should look into why the last two blasts in Mosta and Għarb happened just a few days from the feast day.

“I support the idea of very strict vigilance. People without the technical knowhow should be prohibited from approaching these factories and from producing fireworks,” he said.

“The only way to take stock of the situation is a moratorium which could also have the unfortunate and undesirable side effect of blocking those with the technical knowhow to produce fireworks. This is the only way forward. Something’s got to give.”