Government will support a ban on rum in the Carib community of Baramita, in Region One, if requested, according to high ranking officials of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs (MoIPA), who say that interventions to address some of the social ills plaguing the community have yielded some success, such as fewer reports of rape.
“With immediate interventions you wouldn’t see an immediate turnaround. It is a long road and we are in for the long haul,” Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe told Sunday Stabroek.
Toshao Sharmain Rambajue recently lamented that visits by high-ranking government officials to the community have largely failed to result in tangible action to address the community’s problems, which include widespread alcohol abuse, sexual abuse and a high rate of suicide.