Dear Editor,
Thumbs up to our Ministry of Health for wanting to ban ads for tobacco and alcohol and for favouring the ban on smoking in public places. I believe that this should become an official decree and I know that there are thousands of Guyanese that would applaud the Ministry of Health for this move.
However, there are some critical areas to which the ministry should also pay attention. For example, there are many disc jockeys/ hosts/hostesses who promote the use of alcohol via television and radio. They make alcohol seem as though it is something cool to consume, forgetting to mention the horror of intoxication. This is an issue which should be dealt with.
One promoter has promised to bring in an artiste who sings about and encourages the use of alcohol, something that the government is trying to put an end to. Come this month end many people will be singing to De Hunter’s # 1 hit ‘Meh wan meh rum in de morning,’ if the government doesn’t intervene.
We humans have a tendency to act out what we listen to. What we fill our minds with eventually controls us.
Once again we open the door to intoxication, we can expect more women to be abused by their drunk companions, we can expect accidents to occur, family ruin, etc. I am appealing to our ministers and our government to put an end to the influence that wreaks havoc in our society and on individual lives. Ban De Hunter and every other artiste who seeks to promote the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, etc. Let’s put an end to the rubbish which seeks to infiltrate the minds of Guyanese, especially our youths. It is time that the sober-minded people of this nation be silent no more about the issues that affect us and our immediate families and our society.
Yours faithfully,
Navindo Tinsarran
