The Malta International Fireworks Festival to be staged in Marsaxlokk on April 27 has been targeted by a warrant of prohibitory injunction filed by a resident.

Anthony Montebello, whose farmhouse is located close to the field which serves as a launching pad for the fireworks spectacle, filed the warrant against the Malta Tourism Authority, the Ministry of Tourism and the Commissioner of Police.

The resident claimed that his farmhouse, located some 40 metres away from the site where the fireworks are let off, had ended up right in the midst of a bombardment zone.

Mr Montebello had offered the organisers an alternative site: a field situated further away from his residence.

Yet the offer appears to have landed on deaf ears, with the organisers going ahead with plans to use the usual site that was too close for comfort for the farmhouse owner.

In his warrant, Mr Montebello explained that, based on previous experience, he was facing a real risk and danger to no small degree, since field fires were sparked off when the fireworks were launched, even necessitating the intervention of firefighters to quench the flames.

An architect had certified that the practice of letting off fireworks from a site so close to the farmhouse had, for the last two years, resulted in fires which damaged dry hay, vines and even wire-fencing, posing a serious risk to the farmhouse.

Besides, the site used by the organisers was closer than the minimum distance from inhabited areas as prescribed by law, the applicant explained.

In their reply to the applicant’s arguments, the respondents countered that no action for damages had ever been filed in relation to previous editions of the festival, claiming that this warrant, filed just 24 hours before this year’s edition kicks off on Saturday with a show in Xaghra, was “malicious.”

Moreover, the organisers had always made sure that the event was covered by an adequate insurance policy and that fire engines were always close at hand on the day.

Arguing that they always operated in line with existing regulations, the organisers pointed out that Mr Montebello faced no danger to life since he was not allowed to access his farmhouse while the spectacle was underway.

The only damage which could possibly be incurred by the applicant was a financial one, the respondents argued, and this was far outweighed by the damage which would be faced by the tourism industry, which generated thousands of jobs, if the warrant were to be upheld by the court.

Lawyer William Cuschieri is counsel to Mr Montebello.
Lawyers Frank Testa, Maria Lisa Buttigieg and Aaron Mifsud Bonnici are counsel to the Tourism Authority and Tourism Ministry, respectively.