Broke Ndola council fails to curb Twapia under-age beer drinking

NDOLA City Council (NCC) says it has limited resources to effectively monitor bars in Twapia Township which are reported to be breeding social ills such as crime and juvenile delinquency.
NCC public relations manager Roy Kuseka said in an interview that it as difficult to regulate bar operations in the townships because the council had limited resources.
Mr Kuseka said the council did not also have the powers to stop any trader from obtaining a liquor licence, who had attained the basic requirements.
“We cannot deny anyone’s right to open up a bar if they have met the qualifications to do so, just because other people involved in such a trade are not doing the right thing,” he said.
Mr Kuseka said it was difficult for NCC to set the maximum number of bars to be operating in residential areas unless Government stiffened the qualifications of one to be able to open a bar.
He was reacting to concerns raised by some residents of Twapia who complained to the Times that there was need to address the problem of bars mushrooming in the area and were contributing to under-age drinking.
Keith Mulenga, a Twapia resident, said the mushrooming of bars in the area had contributed to the increased number of under-age people drinking alcohol.
It had also contributed to a rise in crime, among other social vices.
Mr Mulenga said that it was the role of the council to address the problem as they were the licence issuing authority who should regulate the number of bars to be issued with trading licences.
Meanwhile, Mr Kuseka has said the council would soon embark on a programme to prosecute people selling beef in butcheries that were not constituted by the Public Health Act 295.
He said selling meat at a prohibited place was an offence as the Public Health Act specified where a butchery needed to be located.
He further urged the general public not to be buying beef from open places as this exposed them to health risks.

Times of Zambia