Alarmed at the large number of applications it was receiving for licences to operate liquor restaurants, the Board of Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) reached out to the Ministry of Social Protection in a bid to tackle the issue of alcohol consumption and alcoholism because of the adverse effect these have on the country’s social fabric, but received what some have described as a shocking response from Minister Volda Lawrence.
While the housing authority had hoped that its January 29, letter would have triggered a collaborative effort to fight the scourge, which has also been a burden on the health sector for quite some time now, the minister’s May response basically indicated that until a study is done to show a correlation between the consumption of alcohol and delinquency in society and the public health such a collaboration cannot be had.
Efforts to contact the minister for a comment proved futile as it was indicated that she was out of town.
In her May letter to the CHPA, a copy of which has been seen by this newspaper, Minister Lawrence pointed out that no data “exists to show that there is a correlation between the sale and consumption of alcohol beverages and incidents of social delinquency in society.” She also said no data “exists to show that there is a correlation between alcohol consumption and public health in Guyana.” She then suggested that the housing authority board persuade the University of Guyana “to initiate such a study, to help you review the existing policy.”
This response by the minister has incensed some human and child rights activists who have described it as shocking, ridiculous and one that demonstrates that she is unfit for the ministerial position she holds.
“Once again this minister is exhibiting her total inadequacy and unsuitability to head this ministry. I don’t know how many more times she needs to demonstrate this for Cabinet to take some action in the interest of social protection,” Red Thread’s founding member Karen de Souza, who has seen a copy of the minister’s response, told the Sunday Stabroek.
Rights activist Sherlina Nageer in describing the minister’s response as “wrong and ridiculous” pointed out that there is a “plethora of data linking overconsumption of alcohol and all kinds of social problems such as domestic and interpersonal violence, child abuse, depression, suicide, traffic crashes etc.” All of these, she pointed out, plague the Guyanese society.
“Horrified” by the minister’s response, rights activist Vidyaratha Kissoon, who has been advocating for a ban on alcohol consumption at certain events for years, said there is evidence especially from health professionals that they are dealing with problems related to alcohol consumption.
Last year this newspaper reported that Priti Singh from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) at the Guyana office shared data which indicated that on average Guyanese have consumed more than 8 L of pure alcohol in 2010 compared to the global figure of 6.2 L—indicating consumption to be 8.1L per person age 15 years or older.
She had stated that the PAHO in Guyana focused its research on early youths, aged 13 to 15 years, and a two-stage cluster sample design was used to produce data representative of all students in Forms 2, 3, 4, and “other” in Guyana. She stated too that a total of 2,392 students participated in the Guyana GSHS and the prevalence for alcohol consumption in males in schools was rated at 44.10%, while females trailed behind with 34.30%.
“Young people who begin to drink in early teens are more likely to become dependent on alcohol within 10 years as compared to those who begin to drink in late teens and early 20s,” she had said at the time and added that intentional injuries resulting from violence were another public health problem that accounted for high loss of life and disability among young people in the region with a great proportion from effects of drinking.
She had noted too that Guyana has, “No written policy adopted or revised pertaining to the fight against alcoholism, no legally binding regulations on alcohol advertising and product placement, as well as no legal regulations on alcohol sponsorship sales. A national legal minimum age limit for purchase of alcohol exists however it is not enforced.”
For years, former minister of health Dr Leslie Ramsammy had decried the burden the consumption of alcohol places on the health sector. In 2008, he had told this newspaper that alcohol abuse costs the health sector millions of dollars a year in hospital bills alone. He had also warned that alcoholism is a serious health problem and while the ministry had taken small steps to address the issue, he admitted that there was still much more to be done.
‘Assembling the evidence’
As for the CHPA, Board Chairman Hamilton Green said it was in the process of assembling some evidence to establish the correlation between the consumption of alcohol and delinquent behaviour.
According to Green the board of CHPA had become “quite alarmed” at the large number of requests it received for liquor restaurants and drinking shops.
“We had, under my stewardship, determined in the first instance we will grant no permission to any drinking place, whether off-licence or otherwise, to a building that was in proximity to a school, a religious institution… any place of worship and we would be using that as a criteria,” Green told the Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview when approached on the issue.
However, he said, the Board is still concerned that in some of the new areas the applications kept pouring in, and, as such, a decision was taken to approach the Ministry of Social Protection to seek advice to develop “what we do in a philosophical framework.”
He said the minister’s response is being discussed and he has since requested the officers to “assemble the evidence” from international reports to show “what we believe is a correlation between alcohol consumption and use or alcoholism, which is the other end of the spectrum, and deviant behaviour.”
Indicating that he has strong personal views on the matter, Green said, he did not want his views to influence the board.
“But we are assembling the evidence…because what the minister said is that there is no evidence. I can’t and will not comment on the minister’s views on the matter except to say in a democracy, institutions and individuals are free to have variant opinions,” the former mayor said.
“The minister may be right that there is no evidence in her ministry, but empirical evidence exists.”
He pointed to persons getting into accidents while under the influence and broken families because of either both partners or one being addicted to alcohol.
“I have seen evidence of men destroying themselves, not being able to pursue their dreams because of alcohol addiction…” Green stated.
It is the hope of CHPA that it will have dialogue with the minister and the government to be given guidance and hope it would bring about a broader discussion that would involve educational and religious organisations and social groupings so that “the issue of alcohol consumption is treated holistically.”
‘Available data’
Nageer has argued that Guyana-specific data is available from PAHO, the Caribbean Public Health Agency and the police and there is data from a multitude of countries globally that can be applied to Guyana; as such there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
“The data is also in the minds and bodies of innumerable Guyanese from all over the country who have firsthand experiences of the pain and damage caused by alcohol abuse. Time after time, we who work on these issues hear and read stories in which victims say of their abusers: ‘he/she (though it’s most often a he) does be good most of the time but is when he drink the trouble does start,’” Nageer in an invited comment.
She pointed out that it those who feel it know it and while Lawrence’s call for more data seems laudable it is actually just a “diversionary tactic and sign that this minister doesn’t care, isn’t really interested in tackling this issue, that her allegiance is to the alcohol industry brokers and those who profit from it, instead of to the people of Guyana who she’s supposed to be serving.”
According to Nageer, the minister’s retention at the ministry is a slap in the face of all right-thinking Guyanese.
“It’s a misuse of our tax dollars to pay her salary. President [David] Granger needs to show more leadership and commitment to all Guyanese, to stand against partisan politicking and do the right thing and remove her,” she stated.
She also believes that Lawrence should mandate her ministry to collect the data instead of “simply telling another entity to tell another body that they should do it. That’s just passing the buck. Guyanese deserve better,” Nageer said while continuing her call for the minister to be removed.
Meanwhile, de Souza while noting that one can indeed say there is no data, for the minister with responsibility of social protection to “just simply say that and invite research is to say we must ignore the evidence of our experience, newspaper headlines and comments of relatives and neighbours and friends of women who have been killed by their partners.
“It is true that we cannot say alcohol is the root cause of domestic violence, but to say there is no correlation is totally ridiculous, it is absurd and beyond belief.”
Commending the CHPA for trying to take some action on the issue of alcohol sales and distribution in Guyana, Kissoon said it is clear that it must have seen the high number and wanted to put some controls.
He said Lawrence’s response brings back memories of her predecessor former minister Priya Manikchand’s collaboration with the liquor industry to host the ‘Feminition’ event in 2011.
“There is evidence, every day, especially from health professionals that they are dealing with problems related to alcohol consumption,” Kissoon pointed out, adding that he is sorry that the housing authority has to waste time in compiling evidence for the minister.
This, he said, is a shame since the social workers and others who have to deal with the effects of alcohol and other drug consumption are not being allowed to encourage the minister to support and endorse the CPHA’s attempts to address the problems associated with alcohol consumption in Guyana.
“While for example, we know that there are drunk people who do not abuse others, and there are sober people who abuse others – there is a reality that pervades that alcohol consumption has cost our society dearly. The ministers responsible for Public Health and for Public Security and for Communities should be joining as well with CHPA to repair the damage caused by alcohol consumption in Guyana,” Kissoon posited.
