Cutting down on firecracker noise and pollution would certainly add
to the comfort and safety of Beijing residents, but such a prospect
doesn't seem to be enough to get people to obey the authorities'
ban on fireworks.
A
resurgence of fireworks during the lunar new year week in urban
Beijing has forced the municipal government to issue a notice to
tighten fireworks controls during the Lantern Festival which takes
place tonight.
Ritualized cat-and-mouse games involving the police and fireworks
lovers have almost become part of the repertory of the capital
city's Spring Festival holidays.
A
local newspaper report said that more than 100,000 policemen and
volunteers patrolled Beijing's streets on lunar new year's eve to
enforce the fireworks ban.
Yet, much to the government's vexation, many more firecrackers and
fireworks were set off this holiday season than in the previous
one, injuring about 300 local residents and causing 224 fires,
compared with 51 for the 2001 festival period.
It
seems that the quadrupling of fires so caused is enough to justify
the government's prohibition and the firm rejection of criticism of
the ban.
Firecrackers were banned in the urban areas of many major cities in
the early 1990s to prevent fires, explosions and air pollution.
Beijing was the first among these cities.
Living in a crowded metropolis like Beijing, I do appreciate very
much the government's strenuous efforts to make the city a cleaner
and safer place, like setting strict limits on automobile exhaust
emissions, checking industrial pollution and even imposing the
fireworks ban.
However, the 8-year-old fireworks ban has proved rather
ineffective, with the number of people defying it climbing in
recent years.
The ban was adopted in the booming early 1990s when fun-loving
Chinese lit a record number of firecrackers to celebrate their
fast-changing lives.
The memories are still vivid of countless firecrackers and
fireworks turning cities into jubilant, smoke-filled fun houses as
the clock struck midnight ending the old year and starting the
new.
Setting off fireworks on the eve of the lunar new year is an
age-old Chinese tradition, which is supposed to drive away evil
ghosts and bring good luck.
But enough turned out to be too much, and many complaints about the
dangerous and annoying firecrackers during the festival, as well as
people's increasing awareness of environmental quality, led to the
introduction in 1993 of the regulation banning fireworks in the
city's urban areas, which was approved by the city's People's
Congress.
It
is an undeniable fact that many believe New Year and Spring
Festival lose their flavour without fireworks.
After a few years of the fireworks ban, more and more people
naturally began to miss the noisy tradition which has been around
for hundreds of years, and they began calling for a return of the
old practice.
Many cities lifted the ban, and Beijing also set up 23 fireworks
areas in the city's suburbs for fun-seekers from the city core.
Such compromises are in line with the changing role of the
government from administrator to servant of the market economy.
But Beijing's recent re-emphasis on the fireworks ban for the
Lantern Festival is understandable; after all, better protection of
life and property from fires is always necessary.
Nonetheless, merely stressing the seriousness of the ban is far
from enough.
Asking the people of Beijing to enjoy the pleasure of fireworks by
driving a long distance to the suburban areas on lunar new year's
eve is, if not impractical, an inconsiderate suggestion.
A
workable solution is urgently needed.
In
fact, the government has done and can do more to raise production
standards for fireworks to reduce the risk of injury and fire.
The appalling poor quality of many fireworks is to blame for many
of the mishaps.
To
prevent people from setting off firecrackers randomly in urban
areas, the government should set up more supervised fireworks areas
that do not require people to travel long distances.
Of
course, supporters of the ban do have a point in insisting on
observation of the regulations while the country is sparing no
effort in its campaign to promote the rule of law.
But more important than the text of existing regulations are the
mechanisms to ensure that legislation is sensitive to changes in
public opinion.
Maybe a public discussion on the ban should be held, where people's
wishes can be listened to.
(China Daily February
26, 2002)