Dear Editor,
Our society is plagued by young and old rum drinkers from all walks of life including men, women, young boys and girls and even children as young as ten years old. We are also the country that has produced the best rum and alcoholic beverages anywhere, and we top the list now by producing plenty drunkards.
As I read the daily papers daily I see lots of innocent lives have been snuffed out by drunk drivers. The police hardly give statistics about deaths caused by drunk driving. The authorities need to take away the licences of drunk drivers for life, and there should be stricter laws for drunk drivers.
Alcohol has been the destruction of the human race since the beginning of time and it has now taken a toll on our country with less than a million people. Alcohol has been a major cause of the domestic violence in our country today, and even globally. It has also been a contributing factor to suicide, murder, incest, accidents, ‘cussing’ and fighting. It is a major cause of poverty, family breakups, divorce, and the failure of our children in schools and universities. Alcohol is a drug just like marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc.
As I travel throughout country I can see rum shops all over the place. I rode through a small village and counted over 30 rum shops. We have rum and beer sellers at all our bus and car parks; some of the drivers of minibuses and taxis drink all the time at these parks and they put their own lives as well as those travelling with them in danger. Rum-drinking has affected many East Indian communities, and domestic violence and suicide is prevalent in these communities. I know of a Justice of Peace who owns a bar, grocery and gambling shop. He himself is an alcoholic. How can a Justice of Peace own a bar and gambling shop? Maybe the Ministry of Legal Affairs will answer that question. It’s over 12 years now since I applied to be a Justice of the Peace; I fulfilled all the requirements but I am still waiting to be appointed.
I have seen bar owners selling rum and beer to schoolboys in their school uniforms. These people need to go to jail and many of them also sell drugs and run gambling dens. Our country has become a very vulgar and lawless place to live in. Every day we hear ‘cussing,’ abusing and dirty language coming out of the mouths of our Guyanese people. From the rich to the intellectuals to the man in the street, they all behave the same way.
Alcohol abuse is also a contributing factor to major health issues such as brain damage, cancer, heart attacks and even stroke. Drinking can cause blackouts, memory loss and anxiety. Long-term drinking can result in permanent brain damage, serious mental health problems and alcohol dependence or alcoholism. Young people’s brains are particularly vulnerable because the brain is still developing during the teenage years. Alcohol can damage parts of the brain, affecting behaviour. Alcohol can cause high blood pressure (hypertension), which increases the risk of having a heart attack or stroke. It also weakens heart muscles, which can affect the lungs, liver, brain and other body systems, and also cause heart failure.
While our politicians are fighting for new elections they should ask themselves many questions, such as, where are we heading as a nation? What kind of people have we produced after 48 years of independence? How many laws have we implemented to curb alcohol abuse and domestic violence? What have we done to eradicate crime and deal with young criminals? I am still wondering why our erudite president gave a month’s bonus to the army and still has to beg them to help fight crime, and the GDF have done nothing in 48 years to help eradicate crime. Our administration should think about our people’s protection rather than giving out monetary awards to win votes.
If we are to eradicate rum drinking, domestic violence, dangerous driving, etc, we must have more serious laws and close down all the bars and rum shops in our country. We have become a land of lawlessness. We need to arrest it now before it’s too late.
“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” -Albert Einstein
We should emulate the wisdom of this great scientist by arresting this evil of alcoholism that is plaguing our nation like a cancer.
Yours faithfully,
Rev Gideon Cecil
