Change urgently needed

The National Letters

A CARTON of beer now costs well over K100.
A 350ml bottle of spirit is nearly K60. The price of beer is nearly twice it is in Australia.
The price of spirits is about 60 per cent dearer except for the elite in PNG society.
Incomes are but a fraction of Australia incomes. Therefore, home-brewing and corruption thrive.
While the ever-increasing pricing regime remains in place, the production of homebrew will flourish.
Ordinary people simply cannot afford this with two pernicious consequences:

  • Spending on essentials is dropped to pay for overpriced alcohol; and
  • The incentive to produce and consume illegal homebrew is irresistible.

Papua New Guineans go to Australia and witness stores selling supplies and equipment for homebrew. They simply cannot believe it.
Deaths, serious illness and turmoil are associated with homebrew in countries which try to stamp out this activity.
Whereas, in countries where home-brewing is legally allowed, these troubles are a rarity.
There is a very genuine role for newspapers to campaign for change when change is urgently needed. The pricing of alcohol and the attempts to stamp home brewing out, using draconian measures, is one area where action by the media is urgently required.

R Bolling