Fireworks accidents inquiry board may have had ‘hidden agenda’

Labour MP Michael Falzon has complained that Malta's fireworks lobby had not been consulted at all by a board of inquiry appointed by the government last year to into the cause of various fireworks factory explosions.

Falzon said the Malta Pyrotechnic Society was not consulted at all by the board of inquiry and that the board might have had "a hidden agenda", without delving further into his suspicions.

Falzon, who said he was speaking in his personal capacity, said the report had valid recommendations but some proposals were hard to enact.

"The proposal to control perchlorate in the manufacture of fireworks is anathema. It is like trying to combat a flu pandemic by banning flu medicines."

Falzon also said he has no objection to the setting-up of specialised support centre, however such a centre would be very costly and firework manufacturers and the Malta Pyrotechnic Society were non-profit organisations and could not undertake such costly initiatives unless the authorities fund this project.

"Fireworks manufacturers and enthusiasts should not be offered pie in the sky," Falzon said.

On 11 November 2011 the independent board of inquiry on accidents in firework factories appointed by the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici handed its report and put forward its recommendations.

Prof Alfred Vella chaired the board and the other members were Prof. Axiak Victor, Joe Theuma and Servolo Delicata.

One of the main conclusions reached in the report is that one of the main reasons for some of the accidents was improper use of volatile chemical mixtures.

The report warns that accidents will continue to rise if there is no change in the rules for the use of pyrotechnic material.

The report puts forward 24 recommendations include the setting up of a support centre to be run jointly by firework manufacturers, the Malta Pyrotechnic Society, insurance agencies and government to test chemicals.

Other recommendations include the banning of arsenic, mercury and the mixture of potassium chlorate with metals, a limitation of the use of potassium perchlorate, reconstructing closed factories to ease off the pressure on operating factories, improvement in the transport of fireworks, strict testing of chemicals imported for use in fireworks factories and using new materials in the construction of factories.

The report also recommends the prohibition of certain chemicals that have been banned in other countries.