[ad_1]
Due to the corona pandemic, this year there should be no New Year’s Eve fireworks. For the fireworks industry that would be the worst: thousands of jobs are threatened.
In light of the planned New Year’s Eve fireworks ban, the fireworks industry is sounding the alarm: the entire industry is in danger of extinction, up to 3,000 jobs could be permanently lost if the fireworks is not allowed. sale of rockets and firecrackers this year.
“We do more than 90 percent of annual turnover in the last three days around New Year’s Eve,” said Klaus Gotzen, managing director of the Pyrotechnic Industry Association (VPI), t-online. Specifically, it is a sum of 122 million euros, which the fireworks industry implemented for the last time on New Year’s Eve.
“Without the New Year’s Eve business, the fireworks industry is threatened with extinction. There may never be fireworks in Germany again,” Gotzen said. The reason: “Pyrotechnics would no longer have to be produced or imported because the stores were still full. Unlike other industries, we would have nothing to do for a year. No one can afford that.”
Countries are considering banning fireworks because of Corona
To make matters worse, many companies had already entered into and pre-financed supply contracts long before the Corona crisis. Hence, the industry is threatened by financial collapse.
The background to the warning is the general plan to ban fireworks on New Year’s Eve, which was also manifested on Sunday in the resolution proposed by the federal states for the upcoming Prime Minister’s conferences with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). In this way, politicians want to ensure that hospitals are not additionally burdened with patients who are injured by fireworks on New Year’s Eve in the corona pandemic.
Specifically, it says in the draft resolution, that the states led by the SPD developed under the presidency of Berlin: “At the turn of the year 2020/2021, the sale, purchase and lighting of fireworks is prohibited, especially to relieve emergency and auxiliary personnel, keep the capacities of the health system free and avoid larger groups”.
“The situation is threatening”
Gotzen doesn’t think this justification makes sense. “Those who follow the instructions for use can hardly be injured by legal fireworks,” he said. Also, the risk is even lower this year because there are no large crowds and parties where people drink excessive amounts of alcohol. “So what speaks against it, if a small family detonates a rocket from a crate of bottles at a sufficient distance?” Says Gotzen.
His appeal to politicians: “The situation is very threatening to the industry. We urgently need to talk about whether a total ban on fireworks really makes sense. If it really did, it would take extensive help from the government, so it would still be possible in the next few years There are fireworks in Germany. “
The ban on firecrackers and missiles has been a problem for years. Time and time again, politicians from almost every party, animal rights activists and health experts are calling for a ban on fireworks in private use. In polls, most Germans recently expressed their rejection of fireworks. You can read the pros and cons of the t-online editorial team here.
