JEDDAH, 31 October 2003 — Firecrackers are available nearly everywhere during Ramadan, especially in Bab Shareef in downtown Balad. But even though some of the fireworks are extremely hazardous, vendors have no qualms selling them to children and are not afraid of municipality officials.
There are loud firecrackers that sell for SR5 apiece, and there are small rockets that fly up to 250 meters into the air before exploding. Neither are exactly child-proof, but vendors are unconcerned. Some parents, on the other hand, are very worried.
Amin Al-Amer said: “Where are the municipality and police? It is very dangerous because children don’t know how to deal with firecrackers and they don’t know how dangerous they can be. These dealers make tens of thousand of riyals in profits from the sales. I think they should be stopped.”
He also feels that fireworks are ruining the spirit of Ramadan. “They’ve turned Ramadan from a month of peace and worship to a month of explosions every five minutes,” he added.
But some feel parents should take a part of the responsibility. “Families are part of the problem because they don’t educate their children not to buy firecrackers from these dealers,” Ali Hassan said.
“Many children were seriously injured or lost their eyes because of the fireworks. We as parents should keep our children away from the vendors of firecrackers. Often the firecrackers they sell are defective. But the vendors don’t care as long as they make a profit.”
The onus is all on the parents, according to Hassan. “We can’t rely on municipality officials because they are useless,” he said.
