daniel chigunwe
LAST week, we ran a front page story of the lawlessness in Harare’s CBD which has been turned into a theatre of bottle stores.
We reported that a cartel of businesspeople, who include both locals and foreigners, have transformed themselves into some form of godfathers, who are above the law.
We have now been told that Harare City officials estimate that there are, at least, 80 bottle stores around the CBD area and the majority of them are backdoor unlicensed outlets.
Those who are licensed have been violating the terms of their licences which say that they should open at 9am and close at 8pm with many of them opening their shops until around midnight.
These bottle stores should close at 8pm. That’s what the law says and anything else is not acceptable because it violates the law.
But the same law is being violated at will as if we don’t have the police and the liquor board to ensure that the law is respected.
There is a reason why those who crafted the law decided that 8pm should be the cut-off time for these liquor outlets.
That law should not be challenged in the streets but in parliament where it should be amended.
Those who crafted the laws said clearly that those who are under-18 should not be allowed to enter such places and should not be served alcohol.
But, we have been seeing young boys entering these places and being served alcohol.
Those who crafted the law also said the patrons who buy liquor in these shops should not drink from these premises or anywhere closer to these premises. But we have seen it happening again and again in these outlets in Harare’s CBD area.
There are no toilets at bottle stores and it’s a shame that our streets are being turned into giant outdoor toilets by the patrons of these bottle stores.
This is unacceptable.
Cars are now parked in the middle of the streets and the music is always blasting at high volume and one gets an impression that these people, who run these bottle stores, are well connected to some people who make them ignore the laws.
On Friday night, the Harare City Council officials raided the bottle stores and found many still operating long after 8pm.
They issued them with fines and gave them letters to abide by the terms of their licences or they will face tougher punishment.
The Council told us that they had four teams on the ground in that operation and they were surprised by the number of bottle stores dotted around the Harare CBD.
Council spokesperson Stan Gama said they told the owners that they have to abide by what their licences say and that we will not allow the city to be turned into a beer drinking jungle.
We need to see action because what is happening is not acceptable.
Online Reporter