Let’s face it, in this country we sometimes either do things by half measures, or we go completely overboard in the way we handle things.

The story on the front page of yesterday’s issue is clear testament to this thesis. There is a road in Gharghur which is open only to “residents, local farmers and fireworks factory employees”. In theory, if this were a service road, one would say that it was a good idea. Yet this is the only road which services a community of about 70 people.

It turned out that the decision to bar entry to this road for non-residents was a Cabinet decision taken in 2001 to protect people from the possible danger posed by fireworks factories.

In fact, a fireworks factory had blown up in 2000. Yet if one looks into the case more acutely, people who’s ID card is not registered to their Gharghur address do not have permission to enter the road. If one continues to delve deeper, obviously by the same reasoning, these people cannot have guests at their homes because the road is about one kilometre long – not exactly a short walk.

What is really unfair is that police officers occasionally camp out half way down the road to dish out tickets to people whose ID card does not correspond to the road, even though it might be their second residence. It is equally unfair that people are fined because they are visiting the house, such as – for example sons and daughters’ partners.

These are two clear discrepancies that ought to be remedied. In fact, the residents who spoke to this newspaper said that even local wardens do not dish out tickets to people because they realise that the situation is unfair on residents.

What makes matters worse is that service vehicles such as doctors on non-emergency visits cannot enter, neither can school transport, water bowsers and many others. Luckily for the residents, garbage trucks and a bowser which empties a cesspit in the road – since the residences are not connected to the mainstream sewage system – continue to render a service. On a sideline about this latter service, the residents said this service is quite irregular, so much so that the cesspit overflows every now and then.

But this is clearly a case where the authorities have gone overboard – although one must point out that the decision was taken in the best interests of people’s safety.

But it is obviously clear that this is a case in point where the authorities should go back over the decision and re-evaluate its fairness and effectiveness. Perhaps moving the sign to further down the road would solve everything in the blink of an eye and perhaps removing the restriction altogether could also solve the problem.

Of course, another issue tied to this is the need for government to step up standards of health and safety at fireworks factories in general.

Without going into the individual merits of why factories have blown up, it is obviously very clear that something needs to be done. One of course understands that fireworks have become part and parcel of our culture. However, we should not allow complacency to set in at the expense of firework handlers’ safety as well as the comfort and safety of people who live in the vicinity of such factories.

Perhaps if there were more frequent and intensive health and safety audits at factories, then there would not be the need to create situations similar to the one in Gharghur but perhaps more importantly, we could save people’s lives.