MEPA set to turn down Mellieha fireworks factory

The development is being proposed by the Marija Bambina pyrotechnics association.

An enforcement order against the illegal use of the site as well as against seven illegal rooms built without a permit was issued in 2008. A“considerable amount” of explosive material was found in this illegal fireworks factory, the directorate said.

The 4,109 square metre site is designated as an area of ecological importance due to the presence of karstland supporting a mosaic of garigue vegetation.

The Explosives Committee deemed the site suitable for the construction of a fireworks factory since it falls outside the safety distance required by law from inhabited areas

But MEPA’s Environment Protection Directorate opposed the development on ecological grounds. “The proposal will obliterate karstland and aid in the destruction and degradation of garigue,” the case officer report says.

The site also includes two watercourses originating from Wied tal-Hanzira and Wied ir-Randa respectively.

In periods of heavy rainfall water from these courses flows to il-Prajjiet. If allowed the development would obstruct the waterways and flow.

The directorate also warned the fireworks factory would pose a risk to neighbouring farmers.

The EPD also noted that fireworks factories require adequate access for fire-fighting vehicles and vehicles carrying raw materials, which would result in further uptake of land and well as an increase in risks.

Contacted last year, Maria Bambina secretary Joe Aquilina insisted that Mellieha needs a fireworks factory because it is one of the few localities without such a facility.

He claimed that fireworks used during the Mellieha feast are bought from other localities.

Last year MEPA turned down four applications for ODZ fireworks factories. These included proposed factories in the limits of Nadur in Rabat Malta, in Tas-Sanap in Munxar Gozo, in ix-Xaghri tal-Isqof in Rabat and another a short distance from the Chadwick Lakes.

Another ODZ application in Gharb, Gozo was withdrawn after the proposal was submitted to a referendum in the locality, which expressed itself against the development following last August’s tragedy that killed a family of four and another fireworks worker.

Apart from the proposed factory in Mellieha, MEPA is still considering an application to sanction an illegal extension of a fireworks factory Wied Fulija in Zurrieq and extensions to existing factories in Wied il-Qoton in Gudja and ir-Ramlija at Mgarr.

MEPA is also faced with an application to rebuild the 15 August fireworks factory in Tat-Tellerit off Dar in-Nahal in Rabat, which was devastated in another explosion on the eve of last year’s Santa Marija feast.