JSC taxes EMA, Agriculture Ministry on fireworks

Mahabir yesterday chaired a Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Social Services and Public Administration.

Also at the meeting were NGOs - the Animal Welfare Network (AWN) and TT Veterinary Association.

Both the EMA and ministry each initially said they were not the only agency to act on hazards posed by fireworks to animal well-being, but ultimately they agreed to Mahabir’s call to do more, including asking the Ministry of National Security to block the import of fireworks harmful to animal (and human) health.

EMA chairman Gayatri Maharaj agreed to a suggestion to research the decibel level produced by fireworks locally and to include fresh data in amended noise pollution rules. Veterinary Association president Dr Nicholas Mc Kenzie said fireworks cause great distress to cats and dogs whose hearing is many times more sensitive than humans to noise. They can die directly from the trauma of firework noise and from injuries sustained when they flee noise, amid “a sharp rise in firework- related injuries.” He spoke of cases where fireworks had panicked animals into escaping their premises and running onto roads where they ran the risk of being struck dead by motor vehicles. He said sometime ago a driver on a highway had swerved to avoid a panic-stricken dog but caused an accident which killed someone.

Mc Kenzie also lamented that there are people who use fireworks to maliciously injure animals.

He said veterinary clinics see more injured animals in the period of Divali to post New Year and vets get a tremendous increase in requests for tranquillisers.

“You can’t keep an animal drugged up from October to the end of January.” Mahabir asked if the ministry ever enforces animal cruelty laws, namely the Summary Offences Act sections 78 and 79, which impose a $400 fine and two months imprisonment. Deputy permanent secretary Claudelle Mc Kellar replied that the ministry mainly sees its remit as animal importation and disease control in animals kept for food production.

Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan lamented the EMA’s and the ministry’s initial lukewarm responses to animal cruelty and wondered if the issue would be best handled by a new special within the Police Service.

“The major problem is the indiscriminate use of fireworks,” said Mc Kenzie, suggesting fireworks be curbed by the need for a licence and a restriction on the hours of discharge. AWN’s Sita Kuruvilla noted a call in Britain to limit firework use to traditional holidays and to a level of under 120 decibels. She urged a reduction in firework sales to the general public.

Apart from noise, Mahabir said the EMA Act bans the discharge of toxic chemicals into the air.

Maharaj promised to notify her board, and EMA technical services manager Wayne Rajkumar suggested the use of more environmentally friendly fireworks.

Deputy Speaker Esmond Ford suggested the use of silent fireworks to eliminate noise.