Fireworks display fires up residents
CRAIGAVON - A developer's proposed pyrotechnic display is setting off fireworks among residents.
Galencia Property will host a 15-minute fireworks display and family day on 7 March, at the site of one of their new developments on Inchanga Road. The property group started advertising the event just over a week ago and to their surprise the event did not meet with favourable reactions from the community.
Many Craigavon residents felt that the fireworks display would be a fire hazard and more importantly, would be upsetting to pets and wild animals like bushbabies which live around the Klein Jukskei River.
According to Ward 96 councillor, Matome Mafokwane, within one week he received more than 300 emails from concerned residents opposing the fireworks. Mafokwane explained that the residents were not objecting to the developer having its grand launch, but were unhappy about the fireworks display. “As a ward councillor, I have urged Galencia Property to put their fireworks on ice,” he said.
However, according to Galencia Property, the firework display is an integral part of their celebration. Galencia Property is the South African arm of the multi-national consortium Huaqiao Fenghuang Group, based in China. According to Vivian Li, head of marketing for Galencia, the event is actually also a celebration of the Chinese New Year, which is on 19 February. “Fireworks were invented in China in the 7th Century and since then have been used to accompany festivals and the Chinese New Year in particular,” Li said. “We chose to invest in South Africa because it is known as the rainbow nation where people are open to cultural exchange and are tolerant of different ways of life.”
According to Li, the idea behind the event came from other annual firework display such as the St John’s College Firework Festival and the Bruma Lake Firework Festival. “We have done our homework and have done all the legal applications and are using special low-noise pyrotechnics for the display,” she said.
Li added that Galencia Property loves animals and recently sponsored the prestigious South African Derby, a horse show, for the second year running.
Mafokwane will meet with the property group in the coming weeks in order to verify that all protocols are followed in the planning of the upcoming event.
Do you think it’s still wrong to use fireworks during cultural celebrations? Tweet us your thoughts @Fourways_Review
