It's the Christmas and New Year holiday season - and all across our towns and cities, it's fireworks season. Whether you call them "dynamite" or "cuetes"- they sure do make a lot of noise - and, for many, it's a nuisance.
Today, the Compol said we have to learn to live with them:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"No that is not true, a number of persons do apply for permission to import and discharge fireworks and permission was granted as we normally do. Again, Marisol, fireworks have become a norm in our major celebrations. I don't know, if you get married you might want fireworks at your wedding, even at weddings now we see fireworks, birthday parties, people want fireworks, election time, people want fireworks. And it has become so entrenched into our way of life that parents would normally take their children out to see these fireworks. I don't see a situation where we say to people who are applying for permission to do fireworks no, I don't see that, it is not something unique to Belize but all over the world, I am sure when you watch the TV Sunday night, as a matter of fact from Sunday evening, because I think like when it is going to be midday for us on Sunday, it is going to be New Years in Taiwan. So from midday Sunday you watch the TV, you'll see New Years welcoming in different countries across the world and what are you going to see as a symbol of a New Year? Fireworks. So it's not unique to us. The idea that people want children who are using firecrackers because firecrackers is a nuisance right but when you look at persons who are discharging firecrackers, they are persons between ages 3 and 15, young children, are we going to arrest a 3 year old? The law doesn't permit us to arrest a 3 year old."
"When we were young we discharge firecrackers, it is fun that we have as children, that is their way of fun, so let us just give the kids a little blithe for right now."
