Is there a necessity to ban alcohol?

Letters, Normal

I REFER to the report “Danaya supports alcohol ban call” (The National, Oct 7).
Alcohol consumption is the root of all the social problems.
Dr Bob Danaya said PNG was faced with many problems which were “all alcohol-related” and supported Education Minister James Marape’s call on alcohol ban.
He also said alcohol caused many conflicts which resulted in killings, tribal fights, ethnic clashes, rape and destruction of public properties, family and marriage break-up, prostitution and racism.
Dr Danaya said even though the industry contributed a lot to the Government through taxes, its social impact was negative.
As such, a complete ban on alcohol should minimise or eradicate social problems, right?
On theory, that’s the idea. However, it is not alcohol that causes problems but the people’s mind set.
If you were to analyse and look at the bigger picture, you would see the problems related to the ban of alcohol will be complicated and ruin our society as well as economy.
Why?
You can ban alcohol but can you stop people from acquiring new techniques and skills to produce illegal brew?
If alcohol is banned, people will switch to bootleg such as homebrew, steam, yawa, bucket, etc.
If that happens, those who consume them would endanger their health.
Banning alcohol will have negative effects on our economy in the long run.
It is a two-way thing. People consume alcohol and at the same time, support the economy of the country.
If alcohol is banned, PNG will lose millions of kina from taxes.
How are we going to sustain our economy?
What is the future of this nation?
Banning alcohol is not so simple either.
Social problems are not caused by alcohol.
Social problems are caused by our thoughts, ignorance and stubbornness.
We blame alcohol for our own actions.
We do not respect our fellow citizens.
Alcohol has nothing to do with poverty, prostitution and rural to urban drift.
Poverty and prostitution cause us to be lazy and not to dirty our hands working the land.
All we want is to sit around doing nothing and expect heaven to open up.
Rural to urban drift is the result of our leaders failing to deliver infrastructural services like roads, bridges, education and health care.
My suggestions are:
1. Do not ban alcohol but regulate some of the laws and make laws tough for the people who misbehave when drinking;
2. Build roads, bridges and fund education and health services in rural areas; and
3. Government should engage overseas companies to provide the rural people with market for their cash crops and help support primary industries.
4. Our people must change their attitude and work their land instead of lazing around chewing buai.
It is a good call to ban alcohol but we should consider the positive and negative effects alcohol ban would have on our economy.

 

Pless Marn
Yangoru