Ban on fireworks

SIHANOUKVILLE Sihanoukville provincial authorities say they will strengthen measures to prevent the sale of fireworks and sky lanterns claiming the crackdown would improve tourist safety.

Hundreds of tourists visiting beaches ignite fireworks and launch paper lanterns that rise on the heat created by a paraffin burner fixed to the interior of the lantern.

Khmer Times quoted the provincial tourist and waterway traffic police deputy chief, Nop Panha, saying the authorities have now banned the selling of fireworks and sky lanterns at the beaches for safety reasons.

The practice has been discouraged for a year or more, but local vendors continued to sell fireworks and lanterns to tourists on the beaches.

Last week, police confiscated 57 small and big fireworks and firecrackers.

Police said there had been accidents in the past and there was a clear danger particularly to children if the sale of fireworks and lanterns continued. Officials said it was not possible for parents to continually watch their children or prevent them from buying fireworks.

Sihanoukville is a coastal province in Cambodia and home to the country’s main port on the Gulf of Thailand.

Ministry of Tourism forecasts Sihanoukville will attract 2 million local tourists and 1 million international tourists by 2020.

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