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MT 19 August 2018

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17 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 AUGUST 2018 INTERVIEW Yes. Part of the problem was that, not everyone who comes here is necessarily involved in the manufacture of fireworks. Some people come to work on the frames for the giggifogu, or to paint the decorations, etc. These people will not apply for a 'C' licence, because they have no interest in making fireworks. And in any case, they wouldn't pass. But they need still a licence just to enter the factory. Our ar- gument was, why not create a licence specifically for that cate- gory? Why should we ban them? Most of these people don't have anywhere else to work. That's why we're asking for another cat- egory – an 'E' licence – for peo- ple who have nothing to do with fireworks at all. What if someone who is simply a fireworks afi- cionado, or just a friend, wants to come here and simply have a chat and a coffee with us... or maybe bring us a few pastizzi... why shouldn't he be able to walk right in? But that concern doesn't have much to do with safety. When it comes to the most dangerous parts of the job – e.g., mixing chemicals – how well regulated is the process? In our dealings with authorities, the Malta Pyrotechnics Asso- ciation's position has always been to reduce the element of risk as much as possible. We've always made suggestions to improve health and safety standards. We never suggest anything that might give rise to abuse, because it's simply not in our interest to have this sector badly regulated. Today, I can say that the fire- works industry is very well regu- lated. With regard to mixing, there are certain chemicals that are now banned: ammonium perchlorate, for instance. This was never suited to Malta; our as- sociation even asked to prohibit it from entering the country... that's how much we care about safety. And a few years ago, we – as an association – banned the mixing of potassium chlo- rate (KCL03) with metals such as aluminium. Now, only potas- sium perchlorate (KCL04) can be mixed. The difference is that KCL04 has less oxygen, making it safer. Potassium chlorate ignites at 350 degrees, while for potas- sium perchlorate the tempera- ture has to be 610 degrees. So we went for the safer option. And today, everybody has learnt these procedures. People now work only with limited amounts at one time, so that – in the event of an accident – it will be contained. There is also a perception that some fireworks factories tend to work in secret, trying to hit upon innovative ideas that would be original. It is said that this practice (rumoured to involve 'experimental' mixing) accounts for some of the fatal accidents we have seen over the years. How true is this perception? Let me put it this way: there is an element of 'secrecy', yes; but not in the way you suggest. One of the things we work on here are what we call 'prints': fireworks displays which show a 'picture'. It could be a word formed by the fireworks - last year, for example, we created the 'Disney' logo. This year we managed to create the impression of a football player with a football. At other times it might be eagles, or dolphins: all sorts of things. Now, when you're working on something like that, you're not going to go around telling everyone how you achieve those effects. Even if everyone will work it out just by watching the show... because everyone's become very bright at this sort of thing. Still, not many people do 'prints'. Qrendi did it this year: they had a display of the num- bers '1' to '10'. And I congratulate them from here, as even if I'm from Mqabba, we're all one fam- ily at the end of the day... Apart from the accident factor, complaints about fireworks tend to focus on noise. While most appreciate a colourful fireworks display, people are less enthusiastic about 'bombi' that make loud explosions early in the morning. How do you respond to criticism about noise pollution? Fireworks are not just about making 'loud explosions'. That's why there's a lot of culture at- tached to it. You don't only want to 'see' fireworks; you want to 'hear' and 'smell' them, too. And even the sound is regulated. When we're talking about pe- tards, you only have 10 minutes during which to let them off. And in the morning, you can only use six four-inch petards in those 10 minutes. Please note: I'm talk- ing about petards ('murtali'), not 'murtaletti' – the ones that sound like a drum-roll - which are much less noisy. Petards are explosions, it is true. And they sound twice as loud when the ground is wet. That's why Valletta, the Three Cities and Sliema have a reputa- tion for loud fireworks. In reality, they're all the same – four-inch petards – but because it's over the sea, and because of the bas- tions, they will echo and sound louder. But people think they're special fireworks... because they don't understand. It's like that on the social media, too. Everybody talks about fireworks – especially when there's an accident – but they don't know anything. Every- one just speculates... In fact, someone recently speculated that the smell of sulphur poses a health risk to the people inhaling it... That's not true. The smell does no harm. It's not poison. In fact, I have just come back from an operation in England. I've been working with fireworks for 54 years; but the tests found nothing related to the chemicals. I even asked if there was any problem from inhaling firework smoke, and they found nothing. It's just smoke... it's not toxic pollution. All this is just empty grumbling, by people who want to create a controversy over fireworks so they can ban them. Why do you think there is so much resistance to fireworks in Malta? It's only coming from a small minority. If you go to any festa in Malta and Gozo, you will see they all attract massive crowds of people. Not just from Malta and Gozo, but from all over the world. At our feast, we've had people from Holland, from the UK, from Germany... they come each year, and they're fascinated by what they see here – the cul- ture, the festi, the sea, the beauty of our country – and they cry and hug you before leaving. Malta's fireworks culture is now global: in 2007, Malta won an interna- tional fireworks competition in Rome, against the world giants of pyrotechnics: Japan, the UK, Italy, Romania... we beat them all. And we did it with the high- est score ever recorded. Nobody else could take the trophy out of Italy; but we did. It's a great honour for Malta. And today, our fireworks are sought after by tourists from everywhere. Mal- ta's entire economy would suffer if we were to ban these things. It's not just tourists; think of all the band members who make a little money, or stevedores who find extra work putting up street decorations; we ourselves buy lots of wood, and paints, and drapery for the pavilions... the kiosk owner makes money... the shops make money... before the feast, a woman might buy a new dress, or a man a new pair of shoes... there's a whole chain of economic activity associated with the festa. It's what makes us Maltese. It's our culture. And what a beautiful culture it is... how much we should be protect- ing it... just talking about it makes tears spring to my eyes. I'm not joking: look, there are tears in my eyes... [Pause] So come on, let's at least be a little tolerant towards each other. for fireworks... It's what makes us Maltese. It's our culture. And what a beautiful culture it is... how much we should be protecting it... just talking about it makes tears spring to my eyes

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