News
Gloom and doom for firework industry this festive season
By Norman Palihawadana
The demand for fireworks during Christmas and the New Year was expected to drop by 80 percent, the All Island Fireworks Association (AIFA) Chairman, Dinesh Fernando, said.
Fernando said that to compound their problems there was also a shortage of aluminium powder and gunpowder in the country.
Fernando said a large number of businessmen from rural areas used to come to Colombo to buy fireworks. However, there was a significant drop in orders this season, he said.
“Thousands of people involved in the manufacture of fireworks are in trouble. Moreover, we used to receive a lot of orders from the Maldives but these orders too have dropped drastically,” he said.
He said there were over 225 authorised fireworks manufacturers, at Kimbulapitiya, and nearly 50,000 people depended on the industry.