The Government has come in for heavy flak over its controversial decision to allow the reopening of liquor outlets and wine stores amidst the current pandemic-driven lockdown. Religious leaders, Government and Opposition politicians and health experts have led the charge against the Government in this regard. Eminent virologist and National List MP Prof. Tissa Vitarana minced no words in his criticism of the Government for what he called an impertinent decision to open wine stores at a time the country was still not out of the woods vis-a-vis the spread of the virus while several female MPs too lambasted the move.
The most telling indictment however came from Deputy Director of Health Dr. Hemantha Herath who while disassociating the Health Ministry from the decision blamed the authorities for the decision that could certainly reverse all the headway made so far in containing the spread of the pandemic by recourse to a month long lockdown.
Amidst all this, small traders and businessmen too staged protests saying that sauce for the goose should also be sauce for the gander calling for permitting their businesses to continue to operate.
Why the authorities took this decision to allow the reopening of liquor outlets, especially at the tail end of the lockdown, where all indications was that the spread of the pandemic was definitely on the wane, defies comprehension. What was the mighty hurry that the authorities could not have waited for another few days until the country fully reopened again (possibly) on October 1? It is no secret that certain Government and Opposition politicians own liquor shops, bars and even whole distilleries. Did the word of some influential and high ranking politician prevail on this occasion? If not, there is no explanation for this indecent haste. The decision by the Government to fully open the country some two months ago where offices and workplaces were allowed to summon their full complement of staff, despite the sound advice of the PHIs and the medical experts saw the country reverting back to square one with a huge spike in the spread of the virus. Public transport services carried their usual loads and commuters were seen spilling out of train compartments and travelling on the footboards as before, which needless to say precipitated the virus spread.
Similar crowds were seen last Friday when the so-called ‘wine stores’ reopened with the distance rules made a mockery of and a total absence of the law enforcement to maintain order. The days following the reopening of the country would tell whether the month-long lockdown, which was hailed by the health experts, had indeed paid dividends or not.
Of course, the economy has hit rock bottom and the Government is pushed into a tight corner with all revenue sources such as Customs, RMV and Excise drying up. Needless to say, it is faced with a Hobson’s Choice and any port in a storm situation. According to the Excise Department, the Government has lost Rs. 20 billion in excise revenue during the past month due to the lockdown and it needs no second guessing to conclude that authorities scraping the bottom of the barrel saw no way out of the economic dilemma and latched on to the first available revenue source knowing it is not going to win a popularity contest for its trouble as indicated by the chorus of protests by the members of the Maha Sangha and others.
In mitigation it could be said that by even belatedly permitting the reopening of liquor outlets, the Government had stemmed the addiction to rot gut by poorer imbibers which would have placed it in a worse predicament by way of an inflated health bill to treat those beset by alcohol related diseases. On top of the Coronavirus, this would certainly have been an additional burden to the already stretched medical staff.
The decision to reopen liquor shops even amidst a grave health emergency also demonstrates the tendency of all Governments to blow hot and cold as regards their alcohol policies. Of course there were many politicians who eschewed this double standard and spoke in favour of allowing the status quo to prevail. One recalls Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle stating in Parliament that those living in his electorate began the day after a couple of shots. Quite recently, the late Mangala Samaraweera called for the late opening of liquor shops and even did not see anything amiss in liquor being served on Poya Days which drew sharp barbs from the Maha Sangha.
If there are those foolish enough to consume alcohol, what the Government should do is to supply the same at an affordable price and ensure that the product is legally made under prescribed conditions. Trying to wean addicts from the habit is a futile exercise. Nor can they be persuaded to settle for soft liquor, going by the increasing number of addictions to hard liquor. Beside this way (affordable prices) the Government could ensure a steady flow of revenue to the kitty and also save imbibers from dire consequences of consuming moonshine, as part of a rational alcohol policy.
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