For more than a century, this country has been governed by fireworks laws designed for a world that no longer exists. The foundation of today’s regulations date back to the 1907 Explosives Act, which treated fireworks much like gunpowder and dynamite. Its focus then was to control importation, storage and sale of explosive materials to prevent industrial accidents.
As fireworks evolved from small, simple pyrotechnics into high-intensity devices capable of shaking entire neighbourhoods, regulation shifted to the Summary Offences Act, Chapter 11:02. Sections 99 to 101 attempted to control where fireworks could be discharged, restricting use within or near city and borough limits and requiring police permits in some areas.
However, even these provisions—written in a very different era—never imagined densely packed housing developments, expanding animal-welfare advocacy, or growing awareness of the medical dangers posed by loud explosions.
There have been tragic and well documented incidents of fireworks causing injury and loss. In 2017, a “fireworks war” between neighbours at Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain, sparked a deadly blaze that trapped and killed 37-year-old disabled resident Jameel Allamby and left about 15 others homeless.
In 2006, a 15-year-old Penal boy lost a finger when a homemade device detonated, while three youths in Debe were hospitalised after a bucket of cherry bombs ignited.
Earlier this year, the parents of a three-day-old infant said fireworks-induced distress contributed to the baby’s death.
Even animals are not spared. Over the years, the TTSPCA has reported cases of animals dying from stress during New Year’s celebrations, including countless pets that fled in panic, only to be injured or killed on the roads.
It is against this backdrop that today’s debate on the Summary Offences (Amendment) Bill 2025 must be viewed. The bill is the most substantive attempt in decades to modernise how fireworks are managed. It introduces a comprehensive permit system—not only determining where fireworks may be used, but who may use them, when, and with what level of oversight.
Permits would be required for most uses except on public holidays and December 31, and even then, only within tightly controlled time windows. Permit holders will be required to notify the Fire Service two weeks in advance and secure written permission before using fireworks on private land.
One of the bill’s most significant reforms is the creation of half-mile “protection zones” around hospitals, airports, zoos, animal shelters, farms, forest reserves and national parks. This gives legislative weight to longstanding concerns about the distress fireworks cause to animals, the elderly and medically vulnerable people. Just as critical is the introduction of ticketable offences, a practical enforcement tool after years of sporadic policing and ineffective deterrence.
The Opposition has argued that consultation was insufficient—a valid criticism for legislation that touches families, cultural groups, businesses, animal-welfare advocates and the health sector.
Still, despite its imperfections, the legislation will offer clarity, structure and enforceability and opens the door for a shift toward safer alternatives—from drone and laser light shows to cold spark machines, projection mapping and eco-friendly low-noise fireworks. These options dramatically reduce injuries, trauma to animals, stress on vulnerable groups, environmental harm and fire hazards.
When weighed against more than a century of patchwork regulation, this amendment may not be perfect, but it is unquestionably a long-overdue step in the right direction.
