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Botswana: Bar Attendants Fear for Their Jobs
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
14 April 2008
Posted to the web 15 April 2008
Lekopanye Mooketsi
Gaborone
Employees of liquor establishments fear for their jobs following the government's decision to reduce trading hours in the sector.
The revised liquor regulations became effective on April 1. Merapelo Namane, an employee of Discount Bar at Maruapula says the new regulations might render her jobless. "People are going to lose their jobs," she said. She asserted that jobs might be lost because reduced trading hours means reduced sales and profit. "Our salaries are also going to be cut due to the reduced hours," she lamented. Namane became a bar assistant last year after looking for a job for more than two years. She supports her only child with the income that she earns from her job. She said contrary to what the new regulations are meant to prevent, people are going to abuse alcohol because there will be limited time to drink. She fears road accidents will be on the rise because of the new regulations. Namane said guzzlers are going to turn their homes into shebeens.
Her colleague, Malebogo Molefe does not support the new regulations either. "We are going to be retrenched and it is very difficult to find a job these days," she said.
Meanwhile, Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Duke Lefhoko briefed Parliament about the new regulations last week. Lefhoko said consultations by the government proved that people supported efforts aimed at combating excessive alcohol consumption through the review of trading hours. "They advised that liquor outlets should, as much as possible, open early in the day and close early in the evening."
Lefhoko told Parliament that the general view throughout the country is that the social ills associated with the drinking of liquor takes place late at night. He said people implored government to ban late night drinking. He said some people argued that reducing liquor trading hours would result in lay-offs and exacerbate the high unemployment rate. But the general feeling is that the negative impact of excessive liquor consumption far out-weighs the purported job losses.
He said the restriction of liquor trading hours has been reviewed to accommodate the public and the business community. Lefhoko said the government has ensured that liquor businesses are not adversely affected on Sundays and during public holidays. He said in this regard, the regulations provide for liquor businesses to operate on Sundays and public holidays, albeit for shorter hours.
He recalled that the first version of the regulations required that liquor outlets be at least 500 metres away from a school, highway, major road or church. The establishments that do not meet the requirement were to relocate within a period of five years following the commencement of the regulations. Lefhoko said they have reviewed the regulations and the distance requirement will only apply to new businesses. He said where there is need to relocate any existing liquor outlet, the responsible licensing authority will negotiate with the owner.
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He stated that the government feels it is necessary to come up with separate regulations for traditional brews.
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| Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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