03 Mar 2015

The director of Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL) Corporate Affairs and Strategy Ms Tickey Pule has assured councillors in Ramotswa that her company is as disappointed by habitual use of alcohol as is the government.

Speaking at the last session of the South East Council recently Ms Pule said alcohol abuse was a complex problem that required a multi stakeholder approach.

“All stakeholders need to be engaged and we all have to work collectively to address irresponsible alcohol consumption and behaviours because we at KBL are also worried about the misuse of alcohol,” she said.

She said it was for that reason that KBL staff was committed to spawning responsible alcohol behavior, adding that like any other organisation, KBL expected its employees to aspire high levels of conduct in relation to alcohol consumption; hence every employee was expected to be alcohol free whilst on duty.

Nevertheless, Ms Pule indicated that parents and teachers needed to recognise that they could both have an influence regarding whether an underage person decides to drink or not.

She further said that there was need to utilize platforms such as parent teacher associations (PTA) and work with different NGOs in order to address this issue.

She assured the council that KBL was committed to being part of the solution to alcohol abuse and that had come up with a youth responsibility program which aims at delivering consistent messages to the youth calling for responsible use of alcohol.

“This program will also create awareness of the impact of alcohol and to facilitate informed choices, as well as discourage underage drinking,” she said.

However, she said the program would be executed through targeted radio programs used to get them to talk about issues affecting them.

She said that KBL was also committed to obeying the Botswana Alcohol Industry Association law of establishing a collaborative framework for dealing with alcohol related issues in the country.

The Ramotswa council had invited Ms Pule to be part of the presentation and help map a way forward on how to address the issue of irresponsible alcohol consumption. ENDS