The Jamaican public is being given a stern reminder that it remains illegal to use fireworks and firecrackers in the island, despite the open sale of ‘clappers’ and the traditional lighting up of the skies in celebration of the holidays.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Gary McKenzie, the head of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch, has warned persons against using the dangerous pyrotechnics.

“All of those things are illegal, and they should not be done. There are no permits that are being given for these kinds of activities. We expect that persons will abide by the rules [as] we are not going to be lenient,” McKenzie said as he spoke with the Jamaica Information Service.

“If persons are caught doing this, there is no discretion that will prevent us or that we will use not to arrest and charge people, because we have to ensure the message is clear. If we do not take steps to be safe and abide by the rules, we are going to destroy ourselves, and we will not allow that.”

McKenzie further stated that both the sale and possession of any type of fireworks or firecrackers is illegal.

“The possession is illegal, the sale of it is illegal and the use of it is illegal. So no one is to be in possession of clappers or any other device that will cause fireworks or will cause explosions. What we don’t realise is that, especially with communities, we have babies, elderly persons, hospitals and infirmaries and sometimes these things go off and it can be quite frightening,” McKenzie stated.

He said persons have lost their homes due to individuals using fireworks.

“Persons might say it’s so fun, and it’s so pretty, so they want to do it. But persons have lost their entire home because of these things. Remember, it’s fire and it’s not controlled. You can burn down somebody’s house, so we’re just asking persons to really be responsible,” McKenzie said.