Govt cracks down on illegal alcohol vending

Mon, 10 Oct 2016 11:17:16 +0000

LUSAKA  Liquor Traders Association has welcomed the directive by Government to Lusaka City Council to arrest anyone found selling alcohol illegally in the central business district.

Association director David Nseluka said the decision will ensure sanity and responsibility in the way that people consumed alcohol and said the association has tried for a long time to stop the vice but was unsuccessfully because it was not in a position to enforce the egulation.

Mr Nseluka said members of the association followed the laid down regulations on the sale, distribution and consumption of alcohol, adding that the people selling alcohol illegally on the street were not their members.

Lusaka City Council early this year warned vendors to stop the illegal sale of liquor in public places or face arrest.

LCC public relations manager Habeenzu Mulunda said the local authority together with the police had put up measures to monitor and curb the illegal sale of alcohol in make-shift-stalls in the city.

Mr. Mulunda said that the council together with police will undertake routine inspections to arrest traders that did not abide with the Liquor Licensing Act.

Mr. Mulunda said all those selling alcohol in make–shift stalls and without proper documentation were doing so illegally and should discontinue the practice.

He disclosed that a number of people had been taken to court after failing to comply with the Liquor Licensing Act.

Mr. Mulunda said that the council has a liquor licensing committee which was responsible for giving liquor licenses to people who had met the required standards.

He stated that all those wishing to sell alcohol should apply to the liquor licensing committee.

A check in some parts of Lusaka such as Chawama, Kamwala South and Kabwata areas revealed scores of traders vending alcohol in make-shift stalls without licenses.

Some residents in Lusaka have condemned the vending of liquor in open places and urged the local authority to clamp down on the trend.

In October last year a joint operation by the council and Zambia Police demolished some make-shift stalls in Kamwala and seized large quantities of beer and spirits.