In reply to my letter of 28 May (No political will to control fireworks), Darrell Pace, in his capacity as Communications-Coordinator of the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs, deemed fit to comment on parts of my letter.
Contrary to his belief that I was unaware of what was being proposed in the Bill published on 30 May, it was precisely because I had an inkling of what was being proposed that I felt compelled to write.
While, in the main, the bill does propose innovative and far-reaching changes, in certain aspects it does not go far enough. One such shortcoming is that Article 4 of the Explosives Ordinance has remained unchanged. This article speaks about prevention of the establishment of gunpowder factories or similar factories. While the Ordinance states various precautionary measures, in certain aspects it is still open to differing interpretations. To make myself clearer, I would like to mention Article 4 Subarticle a, wherein the words “any inhabited place”, “any street…”, and “any other street…” may be interpreted in various ways. One may be surprised at how interested lobbies can influence proceedings.
You may have a multitude of laws, but it is their observance that counts. It has been mooted in various sections of the press that certain recommendations made by the committee studying the upgrading of the Ordinance have not yet been taken on board.
While I appreciate Mr Pace’s taking some of his undoubtedly precious time to enlighten me and your readers on what his ministry is doing, I find it hard to fathom why he took such umbrage at my comments. Nowhere did I mention anything about the incumbent minister. The fact that I wrote that there seems to be a lack of political will was directed at the whole political establishment. Irrespective of what Mr Pace says, it happens to be the people’s perception.
It has become the habit of nearly all Communications Co-ordinators in all ministries to somehow defend their ministry from comments made by the general public. People like me, who in the not too distant past spent 10 years in the private secretariat of a ministry, are somewhat unfavourably impressed when a functionary seems to be constantly on the lookout to counter some perceived slight.
Fireworks are a contentious issue, affecting a considerable number of members of society, and it is obvious that there will be those for or against. Lecturing those who express an opinion is not credible anymore. We all have minds of our own and most of us are quite capable of forming our own opinion, without prompting from others.
Finally, I would like to commend the minister responsible for the proposed amendments, for taking the bull by the horns and trying his level best to remedy the peccadilos of past administrations.

Dominic Chircop
Gzira

Congrats Joe, but...

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