Nikhil Aiyush Kumar 
Fijians will have to fork out more money to purchase fireworks this time around due to the higher freight costs of fireworks.
This was highlighted by General Manager of Mahesh Syndicate Vinay Kumar.
Kumar says that fireworks are considered dangerous goods, and the costs associated with them, such as transportation, compliance, and global inflation, are affecting fireworks purchases.
He says this year there is a limited amount of retailers who are selling fireworks due to the high costs.
Kumar states that the fireworks that many people grow up with are no longer being sold due to safety restrictions.
“We’ve got only a few ranges you can import only now: cakes and fountains. And we widen the range basically in small, kind of small, pili crackers, things like that. But there’s a very limited amount that we can import. The things that we were growing up to, we cannot import. We are restricted towards it. I have appealed to the Ministry of Mineral Resources to actually see into this.”
Kumar adds that fireworks sales post-pandemic have declined as people are focused on buying Diwali needs such as food, prayer essentials, and clothes.
He adds that they do not import cheap fireworks where the quality is an issue that could jeopardize the safety of people.
He is hopeful that despite the high costs associated with certain items this festive season, they are hopeful for a positive sale.
