Political fireworks

The December season firecracker sales showed a significant drop of almost 30 % since the previous year but people in the industry are pointing the finger at an uglier problem than high living costs – political meddling.

Sena Dayananda, owner of a popular and long-standing brand of fireworks in Sri Lanka, told The Sunday Times FT that the crackers industry is grappling with political muscling.

In the past, the required raw materials - Potassium Nitrate, Barium Nitrate, Aluminum powder and Sulphur were imported through the State Trading Corporation (STC) through Defence Ministry quotas at a very high level of quality from countries like India, China and Israel.

However, in the past two to three years, with the exception of Potassium Nitrate, the other materials are being imported in the open market through two main parties, who incidentally happen to be ‘political friends’ of the administration, in the Gampaha district. The interference has had two major side-effects. One, the materials are now available in the market to be bought by anyone and everyone. “It’s there like buying floor to make roti,” says an irate and disgusted Dayananda. This in turn has resulted in non-licensed individuals producing lower-grade fireworks, mainly in Gampaha. As he explains, these few materials are enough to make the milder crackers like the sparklers (“nila”) and the Catherine wheels (“Bambara Chakra”), because Potassium Nitrate is only essential for the explosive crackers. This lower-quality production has caused a number of accidents in the area.
The second side effect stems from the new importers getting down low quality raw materials. “We had to destroy Rs. 25 million worth of crackers, because they weren’t exploding. And every time the public return useless crackers, they lose trust in us”, he said.

The security situation plagues the crackers manufacturers as well. Under the Explosives Act in the Constitution, a cracker salesman requires a license. While in the past, many pavement sellers operated without a license, with current security issues especially in Kollupitiya and Bambalapitiya the license has become compulsory. The sellers however, are unwilling to get one. Says Dayananda, “They only sell for 3-4 days during the season. They can’t be bothered going through the whole procedure involving the Kachcheri and the Police”. In the process, the industry’s most prolific players are eliminated.

Another rule that has come in to play is that anywhere (like a hotel) that plans to hold a public fireworks display has to first obtain a permit from the police of the area. The permit has to then be handed over to the fireworks manufacturer, who then turns it in at the Defence Ministry.

The entire process is so long that by the time the required permits are processed, the season is over.

“The fireworks industry is not what it used to be”, mourns Dayananda. As a non-essential good suffering from the current economic situation, crackers could do without the political mess-ups.