25 Oct 2017

Gabane residents have called for the review of liquor outlets operating in their village.

Residents expressed this during a kgotla meeting addressed by Assistant Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr Biggie Butale on October 23.

First to convey his displeasure over the number of liquor outlets was Kgosi Seeletso Pule who said business owners and regulating authorities were failing the Gabane community.

“While authorities are failing to keep a close eye of the businesses operations, most of the liquor outlet owners have resigned their businesses operations to their staff which breed lawlessness,” he said.

Another resident, Mr Norman Lebese stated that liquor outlets had turned out to be the only source of recreation in the village, and that they had contributed to the problem of alcoholism.

He said he was worried that there were many liquor outlets in the village, and that the numbers should be reduced, adding that liquor outlets were the only booming business in the village.

The area Member of Parliament, Maj. Gen. Pius Mokgware also expressed his displeasure about the situation, saying the village hardly goes for two weeks without reported cases of deaths related to liquor outlets outing.

However, Maj. Gen. Mokgware blamed the heavy alcohol consumption on high unemployment rates in the constituency.

For his part, assistant minister Butale said it was not possible that the council could just recall licenses for liquor outlets for no apparent reasons.

He advised the royal house and the village development committee to engage the Kweneng District Council about their displeasure of the many liquor outlets, as that could be taken into consideration going forward.

Mr Butale stated that licenses could be suspended or not renewed if the license holder habitually disregards the stipulated legal requirements.

However, he regretted that most people were not eager to come forward and report businesses misconduct hence making it difficult for authorities to deal with issues such as noise pollution from liquor outlets.

On other issues, Mr Butale said Gabane was known for its entrepreneurial spirit which has given birth to Pelegano Village of Industries.

He said such a spirit was important to move the country forward, and he encouraged the community to take advantage of government programmes such as the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), CEDA and cooperatives.

Mr Butale said his ministry had been given the task of creating wealth for Batswana, empowering locals and improving the ease of doing business in the country.

He stated that his ministry was on a drive to lure locals into business to create employment for themselves and others. ENDS