Azores PAN proposal to use silent pyrotechnics rejected

On Tuesday, the Azores Parliament voted overwhelmingly to reject a draft regional legislative decree by PAN that would have proposed a transition to the use of silent pyrotechnics or reduced sound intensity during celebrations in the region.

The proposal by PAN MP Pedro Neves was rejected by 22 votes against the PSD, 21 votes by the PS, four votes by Chega, two votes by the SDS-PP, one vote by the PPM and one vote by the IL, and two votes in favour of the PAN and BETI.

The initiative was presented on Tuesday, the first day of the July plenary session, the last one before the summer break, of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, which is taking place in Horta, Faial.

According to Pedro Neves, two petitions are being circulated that report “general public dissatisfaction with the use of pyrotechnic products, which are distributed in the region uncontrolled and without much supervision, ignoring noise control regulations and causing damage, some of which is irreversible, such as the death of animals and the loss of upper limbs.”

He warned that in urban areas “rockets are launched and exploded at any time of the day or night,” posing a danger to people and animals.

Thus, since there were alternatives, the sole deputy of the PAN demanded the abolition of the practice of noisy pyrotechnics and proposed a gradual transition to silent pyrotechnics.

In the ensuing debate, Representative José Pacheco (Chega) warned that the diploma “went against the will of the majority of the people”: “Are we going to pass a law that conditions the traditions of my people? They will never be taken into account.” in Chega.

In turn, MP Luis Soares (NSD) recalled that when a rocket is launched, a sound is emitted that transmits information, and that it is “inextricably linked” to Azorean traditions.

“Replacing the rocket with a light or low-power one does not seem at all advisable to me,” the Social Democrat suggested.

Socialist Lubelio Mendonça cited the archipelago’s tradition of pyrotechnics, saying the party would not follow the PAN initiative.

BE’s António Lima said he followed PAN’s initiative given that “all traditions evolve” and the goal is for pyrotechnics to be “more appropriate and have less impact on human and animal life.”

João Mendonça (PPM) said the proposal to switch to silent pyrotechnics may be “reasonable”, but in practice it “jeopardizes the richness” of the Azorean festivities.

CDS-PP MP Pedro Pinto justified the party’s vote against the initiative, admitting that with its proposal, PAN “contradicts the secular traditions” of the Azores.

For Nuno Barata (Illinois), although the proposal is “extremely radical”, it is about the sound of rockets “at two, three and four in the morning” or musical concerts in the early morning hours, which citizens complain about “not being able to sleep”.

The Azores Regional Secretary for Environment and Climate, Alonso Miguel, said the PAN draft resolution was “a set of inconsistencies that are difficult to overcome.”

He recalled that PAN had presented an initiative with the same content in the Assembly of the Republic, which had also been rejected: “Both the initiative presented at national level and the initiative we are currently analyzing suffer, in the understanding of the Government [Regional]with the same restrictions.”

Alonso Miguel also noted that, with regard to the environmental impact associated with the launch of rockets, the proposal “does not provide any technical basis for the environmental benefits that this transition could bring” to the region.

“Apart from all the shortcomings of this diploma proposal, the big problem is that PAN wants to promote significant changes without having any rigorous basis,” he concluded.