|
I am an owner of a bar in Paceville and I am currently following the government’s proposal, or rather Dolores Cristina’s partnership with Joe Gerada of Sedqa, to increase the drinking age limit to 18.
I am a parent myself and obviously the safety of our children is of utmost importance so I can imagine what the parent’s opinion is about this issue. But there are a few points which a lot of people have failed to realise.
Us, the owners of the bars and clubs in Paceville, have by now got used to being at the end of the stick every time something goes wrong or a new law is introduced. If it’s the enforcement of under-16 drinking (which I fully agree upon) it’s always the bars of Paceville which are continuously checked for these abuses... nothing wrong with that, but what about the village feasts in summer? The playground near Wembley taxi? The bottle shops which sell alcohol to anyone old enough to talk? Supermarkets where alcohol is bought freely? No one realises that any under-16 who tries to get into a bar, does so because he/she has been drinking alcohol bought at nearby wholesale prices and all he is interested in is to dance to the music we provide... does anyone realise NO ONE wants these children in our bars?
I would like to invite you one night to spend just an hour next to our door security and count the number of underage people refused entry at the door... this happens week in, week out. As entrepreneurs, we are always looked at as if we are trying to drain money from these innocent victims! One question I would like to ask is: how can a parent allow his 14/15-year-old son or daughter to be out so late? These parents are still responsible for their children. How come these are above the law and are not liable for such a disgraceful act of letting their children out at these times?
I would suggest to Mrs Cristina to create an educational campaign targeting parents and children alike rather than trying to look good with her electorate and increasing the drinking age limit to 18. Believe me, I really honestly think this is not going to solve anything but it will rather create a problem which is going to be far more worse in the future. I am not talking from a financial point of view here because the age between 16 and 18 is not a major part of our market. Does Mrs Cristina actually think that teenagers aged between 16 and 18 are going to stay home watching La Corrida on Saturday nights? What’s going to happen is that these teenagers will still find no problem to purchase alcohol and most would end up drinking in the streets, on beaches, in parks, and any other place in which they can get away with it all. Others would try and ignore this law and I am sure the hassle we are going to have checking ID cards at the door is going to increase tremendously. These teenagers are still going to go out no matter what. And instead of being in a safe, controlled bar environment, we are going to have these teenagers running around outside the reach of any parent, police or what may not.
Another point I would like to mention is about the commission created to study the entertainment industry in our country: do you really think that having a chairperson who is, I believe, around 70 years old is going to work in an appropriate way? When are we going to learn in this country to appoint independent commissions which are not biased or which consist of people who are knowledgeable about the subject they are dealing in?
I could go on forever but I think I have made my point clear.
Jeffrey Gauci
Paceville |
