Farmers with land near fireworks factories risk long-drawn legal battles if an explosion destroys their crops, kills their livestock or damages their property, as factories do not require to be insured for third-party damage.
One farmer who raises livestock near the Kirkop fireworks factory is concerned about facing just such an experience.
Are we safe to work in the fields?– Kirkop farmer
The factory exploded last month killing one person. The farmer’s rubble wall was destroyed and the farm’s chickens, turkeys and rabbits perished in the blast.
Metal bars, boulders and sheet metal rained down on the field during the explosion.
“Are we safe to work in the fields,” asked the farmer, who preferred not to be named.
The late November explosion left one dead and two injured, including a 63-year-old farmer who was treated for minor injuries. Leonard Camilleri, the deceased, had survived a similar blast 10 years earlier.
The farmer has gone to a lawyer to seek damages calculated to be at least €15,000.
However, the San Ġużepp band club, which is responsible for the factory, has confirmed to Times of Malta that it does not have insurance cover for this type of incident.
This will make the farmer’s quest for compensation an uphill struggle.
“I was told that they should pay for the damage but I am near to giving up,” the farmer said, adding that calls to the band club had so far been ignored.
By law, third-party insurance is required for fireworks displays. However, it is not required for the actual manufacture of fireworks, leaving farmers near a factory at risk of long legal battles should they sustain damages.
One company, Global Insurance Brokers, which insures fireworks displays, does offer the service.
I was told that they should pay for the damage but I am near to giving up
However, sources within the fireworks community said the costs are “sky high” and not feasible, meaning that most factories opt not to take out insurance cover for manufacture.
Contacted for comment, club committee members said they would handle issues with neighbours themselves, before hanging up.
Last June, Times of Malta reported that Bartolomeo Gauci, a farmer in the vicinity of the Dwejra fireworks factory, had lost thousands of euros of wheat when his crop burned as a result of an explosion at the factory.
Contacted again, Gauci said he was in negotiations, through lawyers, with Soċjeta Piroteknika 15 ta’ Awwissu, the organisation responsible for the Dwejra factory. He is asking for €25,000.
The factory owners had been very cooperative, he stressed.
‘Manufacture safer but risks remain’
Fireworks aficionado Godfrey Farrugia said that the continuing updates in legislation and its enforcement measures have made the manufacture, storage, transport and display of fireworks much safer.
“However, we have to acknowledge that the risks always remain with explosives, and more so since they are low grade.”
The former MP is about to publish a book on Maltese fireworks called ‘Fireworks, the vibrant celebration of the Maltese Islands’ tackling the subject from different perspectives.
A fireworks factory is built on very specific criteria as regulated by the Planning Authority’s Fireworks Policy, and these are adhered to stringently, so that they reduce hazards to a minimum, Farrugia said.
Police can inspect a fireworks factory without a warrant, and all fireworks makers are licensed.
The licences of fireworks factory are renewed annually and those of pyrotechnicians are renewed every five years following an educational programme and an examination.
“Risks in recent years have diminished so much because health and safety standards have increased so much,” he said.
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