MP Kaeok wants total ban on alcohol

By JAMES APA GUMUNO
GOVERNOR Peter Ipatas and his provincial executive council have been urged to ban alcohol in Enga.
Member for Wapenamanda  Miki Kaeok made the call yesterday after seeing an increase in alcohol-related problems in his electorate and in the four other districts in the province.
Kaeok said the money the provincial government collected every year in sales tax “is always less than the suffering, loss of lives and damage caused by people under the influence of alcohol”.
He said one important factor was a lot of people in the province did not know how to drink alcohol responsibly.
When such people drank alcohol they often became involved in criminal activities and caused disorder in their communities.
Kaeok said alcohol only destroyed people’s lives.
He said the province had the Porgera gold mine.
The provincial government got a substantial amount of money every year and there was no point in the provincial executive council looking at ways to make money by allowing the sale of alcohol.
There was no control over the sale of alcohol in Enga as liquor licences were issued “left, right and centre to anybody”.
He said starting from Western Highlands and to the Wapenamanda border and to Porgera, there were too many alcohol outlets along the road.
He urged Ipatas and his team to ban alcohol completely in the province.
Kaeok said the election was nearing and the majority of people in the province wanted to go to the polls peacefully.