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Editorials
Friday, July 7, 2000Fireworks hoarding
poses a real dangerHONOLULU survived the Fourth of July holiday without major damage or injury from fireworks. One-third of the fires requiring a response that day -- 12 brush fires and 12 rubbish fires -- were related to fireworks, a Fire Department spokesman said.The issue: Honolulu Fire Department officials suspect that many people bought fireworks before a new law went into effect to hoard them for use on New Year's Eve.
Young men were seen playing with fireworks shortly before a fire broke out on the slope of Punchbowl near Prospect Street. The wind carried the flames uphill, away from apartment buildings and homes.
Not as many people used firecrackers as the department had expected. From the point of view of public safety, that might be considered a favorable development, but the department views it differently. Fire officials suspect that people used their last chance to buy unlimited quantities of fireworks before a new law went into effect -- with the intention of hoarding fireworks for New Year's Eve.
The new law, which took effect yesterday, limits how many firecrackers a person can purchase and requires a $25 annual permit. The law also increases penalties for sale, possession and use of illegal aerial fireworks, raises permit fees for importers and toughens reporting and storage requirements.
The legislation gave people an incentive to stock up for later use, but this is a dangerous idea.
Firecrackers contain gunpowder, which can become unstable over time and create a safety hazard when stored in a home. Those firecrackers in the closet or carport could cause a fire, perhaps an explosion. Even the most ardent fireworks enthusiast ought to consider what he is risking for the sake of a few hours of enjoyment.
The department recommends that people soak unused fireworks in water and call the city refuse division for instructions on how to dispose of them. This is serious business; the department's advice should be heeded.
After the flurry of last-minute purchases of fireworks to beat the deadline, the hope is that the new law will sharply curtail purchases and consequently use. Undoubtedly there will be attempts to evade the law, but it gives the police a new weapon.
Through vigorous enforcement, it may be possible to cut down on the use of fireworks on New Year's Eve, which is usually much more of a problem than the Fourth of July. An all-out fireworks ban is the real solution, but the new law may produce a measure of relief.
Milosevic consolidates
power in YugoslaviaSLOBODAN Milosevic has been able to retain power in Yugoslavia despite the country's economic misery and last year's humiliating withdrawal from Kosovo under NATO's bombing campaign. Now he is on the verge of becoming the country's president for life. Although he faces an indictment for war crimes, Milosevic successfully directed his parliament to change the constitution to allow his re-election next year, when his current eight-year term expires.
Milosevic is more unpopular than ever in his country, but he has held a tight grip not only on the government but on the media as well. The opposition has been divided and ineffective.
An international war crimes tribunal indicted Milosevic last year for atrocities committed during his crackdown on Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, which triggered the NATO bombing and the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces. Far from intimidating him, the indictment appears to have increased his resolve to fortify his position as a way of avoiding prosecution.
The parliament consolidated Milosevic's power by votes of 95-7 and 27-0 in its two chambers. Under the old constitution, the president was not allowed a second term. The amendment will provide for his direct election instead of a vote of assembly members.
The parliament also approved changes that could lead to hostilities in Montenegro, the pro-Western partner with Serbia in the rump Yugoslavia's two-republic federation. Montenegro and Serbia now are allotted 20 deputies each in the parliament's upper chamber.
An amendment approved by the parliament would subject those seats to direct election, which is likely to end any significant representation of Montenegro. Serbia's population is 10 million, compared with Montenegro's 600,000.
Miodrag Vukovic, a deputy to Montenegro's prime minister, predicted that his republic's reformist leadership will declare a moratorium on the Yugoslav parliament's decisions. That would hasten Montenegro's pace toward independence, a move that it has refrained from taking out of fear of armed conflict with Milosevic's supporters.
Any military response by Milosevic to a Montenegrin attempt to secede would force a decision by NATO on whether to intervene. Although already burdened by peacekeeping chores in Kosovo, NATO would be hard-pressed to avoid involvement, with European members taking the lead role.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
