JEDDAH, 26 September 2006 — With Ramadan under way, police in Jeddah are presently carrying out checks to stop the promotion and sale of fireworks in the downtown Balad. Authorities wish to bring an end to the sale of fireworks saying that they have been instrumental in the occurrence of fires in Jeddah in the last 12 months.
Police have also asked custom officials to keep an eye out for firework shipments coming from neighboring countries. Officers are presently carrying out spot checks in markets in order to identify stores that stock fireworks, to take note of the amounts sold and to identify countries from which fireworks originate.
Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, head of the Jeddah police, said that they have already set plans to ensure that the selling and promotion of fireworks in the city stopped. “Some of the major fires that have taken place in the last year happened because of fireworks. Fireworks are dangerous and can easily explode and cause massive damage and kill people,” he said.
Fireworks are very popular in Saudi Arabia, and the Balad area is known for selling fireworks. Some of these fireworks are sold for SR250 and are given catchy names to tempt buyers. Buyers give their fireworks different attracting names such as the 2006 Rocket, the Mizwig Fountain, Discovery Shuttle, the Kuwait Tower, Hidden Sound, the Butterfly, the Small and Big Bomb, the Abu Hamlain, the Bazooka and Transiting Continents.
Fireworks are nevertheless popular among children. According to shop owners fireworks worth half a million riyals are sold during Ramadan each year.
Children between the age of nine and 18 can easily purchase fireworks across Jeddah. On the contrary some parents tend to offer different kinds of fireworks to their children as presents, so they can enjoy shooting them after iftar or isha prayer.
Dermatologists have warned against fireworks. Doctors said that playing with fireworks might cause serious burns, which cause deformations. Further, if the powder included in these fireworks are to fall into the eyes this might lead to blindness.
