The T&T Po­lice Ser­vice (TTPS) is ap­peal­ing to cit­i­zens to be re­spon­si­ble when us­ing fire­works.

In a state­ment over the week­end, the TTPS said fire­works and sim­i­lar de­vices can cause se­ri­ous in­jury to the user, oth­er per­sons or re­sult in ma­jor dam­age to prop­er­ty.

Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice Gary Grif­fith said while the use of fire­works is not il­le­gal, there are laws to re­strict their unau­tho­rised sale and mis­use.

Ac­cord­ing to the Sum­ma­ry Of­fences Act Chap­ter 11:02, Sec­tion 99: “Any per­son who throws, casts, sets fire to, or lets off any fire­works with­in any town is li­able to a fine of one thou­sand dol­lars.”

The TTPS warned against set­ting off fire­works in­doors, near dry grass or any­where that may cause in­jury to per­sons and an­i­mals or dam­age to prop­er­ty. In ad­di­tion, fire­works should not be sold to any child un­der the age of 16. Po­lice of­fi­cers will be mak­ing checks to en­sure that per­sons sell­ing fire­works are li­censed to do so. Any­one found in con­tra­ven­tion of the law will be charged.