Dear Editor,
The alcohol industry has great power in the way it uses sport to market a product that is destructive to many persons.
One of the side stories about Brazil’s hosting of World Cup Football is that Brazil had to lift an 11 year ban on alcohol sales in its stadiums – causing violence. Budweiser is a sponsor of the football. There are no reports available of any of the violence, but last week in Brazil, Fifa’s Jérôme Valcke reportedly told a media outlet that he was unhappy with the amount of alcohol in grounds. “I was amazed by the number of people who were drunk and the level of alcohol. It’s a surprise.” This apparently must be good for Budweiser and others because Brazil also has to waive the taxes on the alcohol sales for the Partners.
And in Guyana, Limacol CPL management tell us that “The Limacol CPL is the Biggest Party in Sport, and you can’t have a party in the Caribbean without rum!” (Guyana Times, June 11, 2014) and we are told again that DDL /El Dorado Rum will be an integral part of the CPL. In 2011, defender of Guyana’s sovereignty Minister Manickchand partnered with the alcohol industry to host her Feminition event. Since that partnership, there has been no aggressive campaign by the alcohol industry to stop the sale of liquor to children, and there have been small prosecutions of persons without licences. There are no publicly funded easily accessible alcoholic rehabilitation programmes; it is easier to access the alcohol industry than it is to access any rehab, and perhaps it is that since the alcohol industry thrives on alcoholism, there is an unwritten part of the partnership arrangement.
It can be no surprise then, in the partnership arrangements which the alcohol industry enters into, that even as Guyanese are encouraged to party with rum, we as a society continue to be overwhelmed by the violence, the destruction of livelihoods and the health care costs associated with legal drugs which apparently represent “the Spirit of Guyana” (Kaieteur News July 6, 2014)
But party with rum we must!
Yours faithfully,
Vidyaratha Kissoon