The explosions that rocked the fireworks factory in Gharb in Gozo a fortnight ago left four men dead and a scene of utter destruction. By many standards, the Gharb factory was in a relatively open piece of countryside. It would be horrific to contemplate what might have been the result if a similar explosion had occurred in some of the other fireworks factories – which are effectively explosives dumps − placed at the minimum safety distance in direct proximity to crowded towns, villages or hamlets.

Indeed, although Gharb may be relatively under-populated, the area where the incident occurred is a nature trail that is very popular with hikers and families. It is only by sheer good fortune that ramblers or tourists were not walking in that area that fateful, sunny Sunday afternoon, or the fatalities would have been numbered in their scores.

What makes the latest tragedy and destruction so much worse, however, is that almost exactly two years earlier, another factory in Gharb, just 599 metres away, had also blown up, wiping out a complete family. That horrendous accident had come hard on the heels of a massive explosion at Dwejra in Malta, which had left one man dead and a scene of devastation not seen before, as well as other accidents that year at Qormi and Marsaxlokk accounting for three more deaths.

This is a tragic roll call that any civilised society should not allow to go on. A study conducted in the United Kingdom showed that, statistically, between 1950 and 1977 the incidence of fireworks factory accidents there was 0.0001 per year. If the same rate were applied to Malta, taking due account of differences in size, the Maltese Islands would experience one accident every 250 years. Instead, however, between 1980 and 2010, fireworks have led to an average of 2.3 accidents each year.

What is so appalling is the reaction of the governing classes to each successive accident. As the toll of death mounts with each tragic episode, politicians on both sides of the tribal divide shed crocodile tears. They attend the funerals of the dead, comfort the bereaved and, like Pontius Pilate, wash their hands of responsibility for the loss of lives of those whose funerals they so ostentatiously attend.

Yet, responsibility for the tragic state of fireworks safety rests ultimately with the politicians who have the power to legislate for higher safety standards but have signally failed to do so. There has been, and there is even now, a studied neglect of the issue by both political parties for fear of antagonizing a body of potential voters who could sway the outcome of an election. Both the Nationalist and Labour parties pander to this lobby, whose influence and tentacles reach the highest echelons of both, in one case right to the top. 

This is no more apparent than in the way the expert report commissioned two years ago in the wake of the first Gharb tragedy has been handled. The government must bear full responsibility for this, but the Opposition is not exempt. The report, which took more than a year to be produced, was delivered to the former Minister for Home Affairs in December 2011. Except for a consultation session with so-called stakeholders, he sat on it for five months until his resignation in May, and the Prime Minister, having made himself responsible for the always-difficult Home Affairs portfolio, also failed to address it for a further five months.

Given that the experts’ report had itself predicted that “Malta would experience at least one large-scale fatal fireworks accident next year [2012] or in 2013” unless regulations were urgently amended and certain mixtures banned – a prediction which unnervingly came about  - it is extraordinary that ministerial heads are not rolling.

It is doubly extraordinary that the Opposition, which has been so diligent about calling for ministerial or other resignations when perceived deficiencies of a much smaller magnitude have been detected, has itself been so silent this time. Why? There seems to be a culture of omerta which unites our politicians on some subjects – hunting, fireworks and MPs’ pensions for example – and leads to stasis instead of urgent and decisive action.

As one prominent member of the board of inquiry, which made wide-ranging recommendations for regulating the industry, said, “ We need to implement the recommendations immediately, as we are literally playing with fire.” However, both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition reacted with insouciance, bordering on reckless complacency. The Office of the Prime Minister said, “The government will await the policy and legislative proposals forthcoming from the Explosives Committee before moving on to implementation stage.” And the Leader of the Opposition’s Office said, “Labour leader Joseph Muscat has already put forward a number of proposals in an article he penned following the Gozo tragedy two years back.” So, that’s it then from the two leaders.

To listen to such complacent reactions, in the face of the experts’ pleas for urgency to ban dangerous chemicals already banned abroad that are still being used by local amateur pyrotechnics enthusiasts (dilettanti) almost a year after the board made its strong recommendations, is the height of political irresponsibility, especially since, as the chairman of the board himself said, banning specific chemical mixtures would be a relatively easy measure that could be taken immediately.

The suggestion made by the Maltese Pyrotechnic Society for more fireworks factories to be built on the grounds that “this will spread the load and thus limit the deaths” is utterly implausible as well as impractical given Malta’s dense over-development and flies in the face of the need, on the contrary, to work towards a more professional, more focused, limited and better regulated manufacturing industry. 

What should happen next? In an advanced democracy, three immediate steps would be taken. First, as already wisely proposed by Alternattiva, the government would institute an immediate moratorium on the manufacture of fireworks until the urgent, full implementation of the Board of Inquiry’s report.

Secondly, pending a possible move towards a total ban on the manufacture of pyrotechnics by unqualified amateurs, the government, with the full support of the Opposition, would take immediate steps to implement the recommendations of the board’s report. The shilly-shallying of the last eleven months must stop. The political manoeuvring must cease. The need for stringent safety regulations to be introduced urgently should be paramount.

Thirdly, this would allow the necessary breathing space for the possibility of an outright ban of fireworks manufacture based on the present, scattered, high-risk, amateur basis to be carefully re-considered. The move towards the establishment of a unified, fully professional fireworks manufacturing regime would take time. But the advantages on grounds of society’s safety would be paramount and unarguable. The manufacture of fireworks would not cease, but instead it would be concentrated in the hands of one or two properly established, professionally run and regulated manufacturing factories which would sell their products to the band clubs directly. This is what happens in major countries abroad.

Impossible in Malta? No. Not if there is the political will and the public pressure to make it happen.