Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General Stuart Young said yesterday he was very concerned about the increasing number of incidents involving firecrackers.
“It is my personal view that we need to review the use of fireworks and this may need to be done legislatively,” he said in a radio interview.
He said, however, that before any such action was taken, a conversation should first take place. “It must be dealt with at a government policy level among my cabinet colleagues to start with. I have received complaints from my constituents and I have seen a video on social media this morning that appears to be gentlemen shooting at each other with the use of fireworks.
“It is high time we take a look at this and we have concerns about this.”
There have been complaints in recent days about the use of fireworks during New Year celebrations.
Young noted that under the cover of fireworks the illegal use of firearms was perpetrated which resulted in “two very unfortunate and sad deaths of a six-year-old and a 68-year-old grandmother.”
The minister also referred to an incident where a three-month-old baby suffered serious burns after someone threw a firecracker on his blanket. The baby was asleep in his mother’s arms near City Gate in Port-of-Spain.