A mere 24 hours after the remains of the five victims of a fireworks factory tragedy were lifted from the ruins last month, fireworks enthusiasts started delivering bricks to the area so that the reconstruction of the factory could begin as soon as possible, a resident living in a nearby house in Triq Santa Katerina in Xwieki, limits of Gharghur, told The Malta Independent.

Following the St Helen's fireworks factory explosion on 27 June, a number of legal loopholes have resurfaced and as residents slowly come to terms with the huge amount of damage their property sustained, they have initiated legal proceedings against the authorities.

The residents of the street, part of which lies in Madliena, have filed a judicial protest and a formal objection against the reconstruction of the fireworks factory, in which they made a request for the authorities to review the permits held by the owners of the other two fireworks factories in the area.

Before their homes were shaken and some extensively damaged on the tragic afternoon, residents had been planning to launch a campaign against the fireworks factories.

The date of the launch of the campaign was set for 4 July, but instead residents met to discuss the tragedy, the damage inflicted on their houses and the threat to their safety as a result of the vicinity of the fireworks factories.

Sources told this newspaper that court experts recently visited the residents' houses to inspect the extent of the damage caused. The residence that lies closest to the factory is said to have sustained about Lm20,000 (EUR46,587) worth of damage.

Before the accident, the St Helen fireworks factory stood in a disused quarry in Triq Santa Katerina, very close to another factory known as Ta' Briffa, while a third fireworks factory lies some distance away.

Most of the houses and villas in the street were mostly built in the 70s and one residence is even said to have been built about 400 years ago, certainly not later than the fireworks factories were constructed.

The whole issue lies over the fact that the factories were found to be constructed illegally – since the Explosives Ordinance regulations provide that there should be a minimum 200-metre buffer zone between a factory and an inhabited area.

In order to render the factories legal, about six years ago a government minister ordered that accessibility to the street should be limited to residents, farmers and fireworks factories employees, thus regularising the fireworks factories' position with the Explosives Ordinance.

Two signs were immediately put up at either entrance to the street and residents have since been going through a hell of a time since their street was made inaccessible to any service vehicles.

Difficulties faced by residents include, among many others, the fact that school children are forced to wait for their school transport at the end of the road, which is very dangerous, and doctors on call are forced to park their cars at the end of the road.

A resident told this newspaper that there was a time when his car broke down and RMF, the vehicle recovery service, refused to tow the car that was parked in the street in question.

The same resident had written to the Ombudsman on 13 November last year. In a reply, the Ombudsman said: “… if the present signage were to be strictly obeyed, life for the residents could be rendered unbearable”.

The resident claimed that the situation makes no sense to either residents or fireworks factories owners, since accessibility to the fireworks factories is very limited. Proof of this were the difficulties faced by members of the search and rescue team following the 27 June blasts.

Theoretically, the resident pointed out, ambulances and fire engines that had to enter the street for the search and rescue operation were also there illegally, since according to the sign at both entrances to the street, emergency services are not allowed access.

Together with a judicial protest filed by the residents last week, they also sent a letter to the chairman of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa), claiming that the basis of their argument is “purely a planning/safety issue and no political agenda should hinder this process, where safety should be paramount”.