Dear Editor,
Amidst the noise of the Alliance for Change asking for a 2am curfew and the objections to the curfew, there was a quiet story from the Department of Public Information on August 2, 2024. Minister Robeson Benn was talking about road accidents and fatalities at the Guyana’s Road Safety Stakeholders’ Forum 2024 Minister Benn reportedly said that “most road accidents and deaths occurring among the younger population are males who visit bars and other places to indulge in alcohol consumption” and then went on to talk about the need to respond to statistics.
Social media is now pushing ads from Guyanese alcohol companies featuring young men. The fine print might be there about responsibility but always not so easy to read as the good life promised by consuming the products which are advertised.
In August 2022, the Parliament passed the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing (Amendment) Bill 2022 to introduce penalties for those who sell alcohol to drunk drivers, amongst other things. The Government at the time said it hoped that this would help with curbing alcohol-related road accidents.
Does the Guyana Police Force and Ministry of Home Affairs have data about the burden of alcohol consumption in Guyana on road safety and other human safety and wellness matters? If they do, then surely it would benefit the public to make the data available so that we could. The indications from the Ministry and other anecdotal evidence suggest that alcohol-involved and other kinds of road accidents are on the rise. How many people have been prosecuted under the new Amendments? Or is that people are drinking in unlicensed establishments, outside the many new places like supermarkets and so presenting tarmacs for people to drink.
Can legislation alone stop people from consuming alcohol in a culture which actively promotes the consumption? Shouldn’t there be other ways of educating and re-orienting, of imagining a healthy country which address the alcohol problem?
The DPI news item only referred to one Alcohol industry player as being present at the forum. There were no reports of whether any of the young males or other young people who enjoy the good life and living in Guyana’s thriving alcohol culture were present at the Road Safety forum to respond to the Minister. There was no other news items from the forum so maybe nothing else was said that was newsworthy.
Yours sincerely,
Vidyaratha Kissoon
