The urgent need to review liquor licences
As a columnist once wrote if you rake up the issue of liquor licences, it will stink sky high or something worse. The intention here is not to drag in personalities as owners, defacto owners, and stand-in owners, which will be revealed as part of the revelations in remedies to be contemplated. As far as we are concerned we are more interested in whether the purported holders and operators have complied with the Excise regulations as well as other legal requirements at any point of time.
Before this exercise could be successfully carried out, the Excise Department or the relevant authority must publish the legal requirements an applicant must comply with before he could apply and obtain the licence to operate a liquor outlet.
As ordinary citizens we do not grudge the enormous wealth that accrues to the owners of these outlets. Our concern commences with the location of the outlets. Are they in residential areas? Are they near schools? Are they near primary schools? Are they near places of worship irrespective of the faith? Have they relocated from where they were permitted to operate in the first instance? Have they branched out using the approved licence and was it permissible under the terms of the licence?
The biggest nuisance is the crowding, the brawls, and the inconvenience to the road users passing the outlets. Liquor stores are invariably crowded and those who run the outlet tolerate the lingering crowd after they have done the purchase. They are the patrons. They may gulp one for the road before they carry it to their rendezvous to have a leisurely drink along with their pals.
The fallout is those drinkers use the bylanes to sit and sip their drinks disregarding passers-by. Worse still is the obnoxious habit of tossing the empties over the boundary walls or the thatched fences of residences.
When an influential bar owner wants to open a bar closer to a residential area they obtain the ‘no-objection’ consent from the residents on considerations or even promise to fund the festivals, sports meets or other community occasions in the area, or else to meet the cost of some public requirement, which remains unprovided by the central government or the local authorities. People rarely oppose the bar owner openly because such a person has influence with the government officers including the police with brawny workers under him to keep the peace.
Why cannot these outlets be located in certain exclusive areas which cause the least amount of nuisance to the average citizens especially the younger generation?
One suggestion is why not suspend all existing licences and give a chance for those interested to apply again conforming to the stipulated requirements for obtaining such licences. If the requirements are ten and if they are short of some of the lesser requirements why not give them the opportunity to make good those deficiencies.
It is high time the state authorities open their eyes and regulate these outlets by granting licences to those who comply with the legal requirements and ensure that their incomes are not only brought within the ambit of business transactions but also ensure the receipt of tax revenue to the state coffers. This task may not be that difficult if the political bigwigs of the area who depend on these renters for their financial back-up do not interfere. So too the parties they belong to. The Excise Department should definitely exercise more restraint and keep them at arm’s length in order to exercise their excise role.
No country is interested in reverting back to temperance or a total ban on liquor sales. What is required is to bring them within the realm of civilized activities. The country as it is, is overflowing with vendors of liquor, illicit liquor, and even the most dangerous addictive component - the powdered variety.
When is the country to free itself from the tentacles of this spreading web? R.Suntharalingam Via email