.
The police rightly want to find ways to curb unnecessary accidents, just as they want to clamp down on football hooliganism and other violence associated with a frustrated youth in a bewildered society. And there is no doubt that we should help them in any way possible, by volunteering our free time for community work or helping other public interest services.
However, banning the use of fireworks altogether and the ritual of hanging Judas’ effigy on Good Friday and burning it on Easter Sunday (a.k.a. “Lambratzia”), goes against tradition that could raise concerns about the true intentions of the authorities.
The present administration seems to be far more conservative than the opposition when it comes to changing laws or introducing social reforms. The best example is the Ministry of Labour’s insistence to remove Sunday shopping in tourist areas, while the Ministry of Tourism and the CTO fail to argue that the whole island should be declared a tourist area, seeing as this sector generates the biggest money earner for the state coffers and the private sector alike. In a similar manner, the government fails to see the millions lost in unclaimed taxes from gambling that goes on all over the place, it allows betting shops and state monopoly lottery, it cannot compete with Malta as the centre for online casinos, is tolerant of the thousands of Greek Cypriots who drive to the shady casinos in the north, yet is adamant against allowing a casino operating license on its territory.
In the age of seeking out increased revenue (that is expected through a VAT hike on a number of items), the government should, in the spirit of a free economy, allow more items to reach the market and more traditions to be upheld. However, it should balance health and safety by introducing harsher fines for those who break the law, such as importing unlicensed or dangerous products, be they firecrackers from the north or poor-quality Asian electrical appliances.
The short-lived era of the traffic cameras proved two things – that the state earnings went up and that motorists became more conscious of the driving code, hence reducing the risk of accidents and traffic jams.
Another campaign is also underway to discourage motorists from parking their cars on pavements (despite the absence of decent parking spaces in all towns). In this case, as with all the others mentioned above, fines should start from 500 or 1,000 euros, while anything to do with hazardous materials (firecrackers) and dangerous events (Lambratzia), unless regulated and supervised by community groups or the Fire Service, should carry even heftier fines of 5,000 euros or more.
Prevention is often the cure to many troubles. Prohibition simply encourages more to challenge the system.
