Fire in the party

THE SAFETY of patrons who attend mega-fetes must become a matter of top priority by the organisers and owners of the venues in which these crowded parties are held. What makes this issue so vital is not only the violence and robberies that have marred a number of these events but also the follow-fashion use of fireworks to provide a special-effects background to these proceedings.

We do not need a more scary lesson to bring this home to us than what happened on Sunday morning at Machel Montano's Alternative Concept fete at MOBS2, Chaguaramas, when fireworks, instead of shooting into the sky, arched into the crowd injuring a number of patrons. One of them, 24-year-old Marissa Lewis, who was standing about ten feet from the stage, was struck in her face. Several other persons are reported to have sustained burns about the body. When placed in the context of last Friday's tragedy at the West Warwick, Rhode Island night club in which some 95 persons perished and more than 180 injured when a fire, caused by a pyrotechnic display, razed the wooden building, the fireworks at MOBS2 must be taken as a serious warning.

It is a futile exercise, of course, to bewail the overpowering influence of American pop culture on us; it is a tidal wave that swamps us quite willingly. But still, if local fete promoters and performers feel they too must imitate the Americans and have fireworks and pyrotechnics at their shows and performances, then they must do everything possible to ensure the safety of their paying customers. In the wake of the Rhode Island tragedy, the issue of patron protection and permission to use pyrotechnics at such events have become the subject of a major dispute in the US and it seems to us that the Police authorities in TT should now be looking very closely at this matter in light of the Chaguaramas incident. In the first place, who are the people conducting these fireworks displays? Are they experienced and licensed pyrotechnicians? What kind of fireworks are they using? How dangerous can these lighted explosions be to a nearby crowd of people either in the open or in the confines of a night club? In any case, we believe they should not only obtain the permission of the Police authorities to conduct such special-effects displays at fetes and parties but also the approval of owners of the premises in which these events are taking place.

Our country can hardly be proud or even satisfied about its public safety standards, so it is time to place this issue high on our agenda. It seems fortunate, for example, that a more serious incident did not take place at Friday's Schools' Soca Storm held at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya. The "storm" blew  a massive crowd of schoolchildren into the Centre to a Ministry event that was poorly organised. If frightens us to think what could have happened if the problems which developed at the entrance had led to a stampede of children. In any case, the point made by TTUTA president Trevor Oliver about this show should be well taken. The format, he says, is inappropriate for children, since it facilitates "cavalier, wild and outlandish behaviour among students." The "soca storm", he notes, creates a disruption and fosters indiscipline at a time when there is urgent need to maintain discipline in our schools. The mixture of indiscipline, soca music and a huge crowd of schoolchildren does not strike us as making for safety.