The Pyrotechnic Association is supporting the Yes vote not because it sees a threat to the Maltese festa, but because their aspirations to have uncontrolled fireworks are perceived to be under threat. In reality, control exists. It is not the law that is controlling fireworks but financial and economic constraints.

Therefore, like hunters, pyrotechnic enthusiasts do not want control. Yet, this stand expressed by the Chairman of the Pyrotechnic Association, Josef Camilleri, is the greatest cause of harm to the manufacture of fireworks in Malta. This attitude is a real threat to our traditional Maltese festa. Ironically, fireworks have been part of the festa controversy from time immemorial. In fact, there is a close affinity between hunters and pyrotechnic enthusiasts, as both use fire.

I am sure that many of the pyrotechnic enthusiasts are also hunters. I quote here from Herbert Ganado’s book Rajt Malta Tinbidel, but for obvious reasons, I am using the English translation of Michael Refalo. Ganado reveals that the real threat is not the referendum against spring hunting, but the pyrotechnic workers themselves. Certain issues related to fireworks have been in existence for decades in Malta, and it is wrong to assume, as Josef Camilleri sought to do, that negative criticism is a contemporary issue or related to statements of some environmental groups or others. Camilleri made specific reference to what the AD political activistArnold Cassolasaid about fireworks in Malta. What Cassola has questioned was the sound pollution created by fireworks but this was questioned also by Herbert Ganado who was an avid festa enthusiast. The problem is that the Pyrotechnic Association never took heed of what the real issues were. Yet, Ganado adds a comment, which is extremely relevant with regards to the pyrotechnic enthusiasts.  In various cases, he states that it is the children of those who manufacture fireworks who rebel against their fathers and it these children who, in various cases, speak badly about the Church and against the Maltese festa traditions.

This is what Herbert had to say about the subject. His argument is self-explanatory,

“The Government, the clergy and the public in general should without further delay join forces and assume responsibility for the tragedies that happen all too often due to fireworks explosions. We should also bear in mind that exploding petards jolts the bedridden and frighten babies. The practice should be outlawed once and for all. Petards that fail to explode can easily fall into the wrong hands and cause tragedies where the victims are often children. It is a shameful, scandalous situation, which the Church and the Government should as a matter of urgency address and find a solution. This reference to the Church does not imply that the Archbishop should speak out but more importantly that he is given support by parish priests and the clergy who at times misbehave and make fools of themselves as much as the most hot-headed feast supporters. Come to think of it, the same people who profess to enjoy and campaign in favour of fireworks, may in future, if incited by anti-clerical elements, criticize and condemn the clergy for not teaching and holding them back!”

(Herbert Ganado, My Century, translated by Michael Refalo, vol. 6, Malta 2008, Chapter 34, p. 73)

One agrees that what is being said here does not need to be regulated by a referendum. It is in the interest of all concerned that safety measures are in place and there are no more victims. Moreover, it is in the interest of the pyrotechnic enthusiasts to respect the environment, the sick and the elderly otherwise, automatically they will become irrelevant. Unfortunately, this is precisely what the Chairman of the Pyrotechnic Association did when he declared his unconditional support to a ‘yes’ vote in favour of spring hunting. 

However, in supporting the hunters' deadly choice, the Pyrotechnic Association has ended up making extraordinary over statements that have put this association in a corner. Camilleri’s statement reads as an auto-declaration that his association is a fringe group, more than ready to take a stand against the environment and environmentalists.

For this reason, it is correct to conclude that the Pyrotechnic Association is supporting the “yes” vote for spring hunting to protect its right to be a nuisance to one and all. What irony! All the saints venerated by the Pyrotechnic Association have shown respect to vulnerable individuals. Instead of making an earnest attempt to understand those seeking to safeguard our natural environment and bird habitat, together with those who vouch their preoccupation about petards noise pollution, they have gone diametrically against them. This means that this Association does not believe that fireworks are a cultural manifestation for the pleasure of the multitude. If it really believed in culture and beauty of the environment, it would have supported the No vote.