Local food and beverage manufacturer Vitis Industries Limited is saying that the state should be focusing more on dealing with the abuse of alcohol within the community rather than trying to fix the matter by dealing with the producers of alcohol.
Vitis Industries Managing Director Mrs. Vikki Mossine, said the problem with alcohol abuse and violence should be seriously looked at and tougher measures should be taken to address it in the society.
“I appeal to the authority and law enforcement agencies to penalize the alcohol abusers by imposing hefty fines or tougher laws if they cause violence in their homes or in their communities,” she appealed.
“Also, to our licensed distributors and trade store owners, they must not allow the sale of our products to minors,” she strongly added.
She said producers of alcohol beverages like Vitis Industries are only producing the products in accordance with the food and safety standards and should not be penalized for doing that.
After all she said Vitis Industries has contributed a lot in terms of creating employment, paying tax to the state and providing community service and other services to the people.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Mossine also pointed out that the number of alcohol producers have increased compared to five years ago and she also claimed that some of these new companies have similar product names and similar alcohol content to the products produced by Vitis Industries.
“So, I think the authorities should look into this to see if they are also following the food and safety standards,” she said.
“In addressing these issues, we are open for discussions because we’re Papua New Guineans and we are concerned for our future generation as well.”