Green party accuses Labour, PN of ‘alliance of death’ for refusing to suspend fireworks production pending inquiry

AD secretary-general Ralph Cassar has accused the Labour and Nationalist parties of being in an “alliance of death” for turning down suggestions to suspend the production of fireworks, pending a government inquiry into repeated factory explosions this year.

Earlier this morning, the sixth victim in the Gharb fireworks factory explosion was pronounced death after succumbing to 90 degrees burns.

An inquiry has been launched into the quality of fireworks being imported to Malta following the latest explosion, the fourth in a year.

“Certain situations call for difficult and strong measures,” Cassar said in a statement today. “The fact the both the PL and the PN are ruling out a moratorium on firework production until the reason for the huge number of accidents is identified shows the sheer lack of respect that these parties have towards people, not only those who manufacture fireworks but also those who happen to live close to fireworks factories.”

Cassar said the accidents points towards something which is “repeatedly going wrong over and over again.”

“In other industries where human life is affected, such as food production and medicine manufacturing authorities and even manufacturers go as far as recalling their products on the slightest suspicion of defective products, but it seems that since the PL and PN are only interested in getting one vote more than each other in the case of fireworks anything goes. This attitude is disgusting,” Cassar said.

He said that both the PL and PN had “once again formed an alliance against the common good of the Maltese and Gozitan people. Not even repeated deaths will quench their thirst and hunger for votes and power.”

Cassar said AD supported calls for a moratorium on the manufacture of fireworks. “The safety and wellbeing of people is much more important than PN’s and Labour’s votes. Their alliance of death shows that we have really scraped the bottom in this country.”