The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

For some time now, I have attempted to inquire into some of what I have deduced is a contributing factor to some of the ills plaguing many of our communities…needless to say, that the exact figures for what was said to be public information…I was denied access…perhaps, editor, you may be able to acquire this information.

From what a well placed source at the time indicated when asked how many establishments were operating legally on New Providence and the country generally…to wit, have a licence to sell under the Liquor Licence Act, the number given was around three thousand…this was 15 years ago. Based on what I now see, it appears to be three times that number…there is always the question of the “30 days (people engaged in the sales of these products without the requisite government permit or licences)…referred to as “30 days” a convicted person found guilty by the courts of the land for selling without a licence were sentenced to “thirty days imprisonment”…is the explanation. And how many of these ones are there operating illegally? This is the question of the century?

This number is a problem, because the island is only 21 miles long by seven miles wide…and to have this density of intoxicants readily available, sends the wrong message in my view. If at every turn people were/are able find a seller… does little to deter the unsuspecting young person/non drinker- who now possibly could stop in and try the drink, even for the first time…the less likely you’re able to find the seller, is the less likely one would go out of their way seeking to acquire one.

It appears to me that too many young people are under some kind of high…not the natural, but induced by material means…these products available at tourist areas ought not be. Arawak Cay and Potter’s Cay Dock ought not to be selling these intoxicants…these are places outdoors…and not belonging to confined anterior spaces…businesses engaged in delicacies of the Bahamas…need to stand alone…that way you attract the right-trouble-free-clientele. The sale of the leaded liquids creates the environment for the trouble makers…inclusive of and by its very nature these products cause a noticeable shift from the calm to the-delirious and in their actions, to the extent of “causing public terror.” So liquor licensing authority, there is something to be said about how you go about assigning licences.

And I ask what is the level of responsibility given the store-operator/licence holders over the behaviour of the customer/client? In other words, they ought to know when a client/customer has had enough…then what?

These are important checks and balances needed in this whole question of competent and responsible-proprietorship, if that is a word.

FRANK GILBERT

Nassau

May 15, 2019