The new Bor town mayor, Samuel Ateny Pech, has started implementing a ban on the brewing, sale, and consumption of local alcohol because of rising crime in the town.
Mayor Ateny told Radio Tamazuj Monday that the ban, which was initially announced by his predecessor three months ago, will restore order in Bor town.
“The former mayor issued an order three months ago banning local alcohol but it was not implemented so last week I issued an order for the implementation of the ban on consumption and sale of local alcohol called ‘Aragi’,” he said. “Also, cheaply imported alcoholic drinks like gins and spirits are banned.”
Ateny urged residents to abide by the ban, saying it will help pacify the town, and warned that those who will be found defiant will be punished.
“These alcoholic drinks are destroying our children. They are now acting contrary to the norms and are involved in criminal activities,” he stressed. “So, we have issued the (ban) order. The affected women must engage in other income-generating activities like selling firewood and grass for thatching.”
On his part, the town’s deputy director of public health, John Makuei Alier, said the banned alcoholic drinks are detrimental to human health.
“You cannot find those banned alcoholic drinks on the shelf in the market now but will only get whisky which costs at least SSP 7,000 which our children cannot afford so this is good in terms of health,” he said.
Radio Tamazuj could not reach the women who brew local alcohol but many have in the past complained that such bans deprive them of much-needed money to pay for their children’s school fees and meet other family demands.
However, Kenya Amach, a women’s rights activist lauded the ban.
“We applauded the ban. Our children are destroyed and the elderly are dying,” she said. “As the Women’s Union, we encourage our fellow women to engage in income-generating activities like agriculture and selling fish because there is no point in alcohol as a business if our social fabric is destroyed.”