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| Sunday, 7 August 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Consumer Ombudsman by Consumer Watch Fast deteriorating morals A recent tragedy resulting in a death of a young girl and the resultant inquest proceeding brings to sharp focus the fast deteriorating mores, particularly among the well to do families in Colombo. From this tragedy many lessons can be learnt by the public at large, the parents of teenage boys and girls no less than by the law enforcement authorities. We as consumers and as members of the general public should follow up these events and caution the public and alert the authorities. Unauthorised The above tragedy is referred to in the front page headline at page one of he Daily News of July 19, 2005 which refers to the Excise Commissioner having suspended the licenses of nine registered nightclubs including one at the premises of a Five Star Hotel for flouting excise laws. Another five unauthorized nightclubs operating in Colombo had also been raided. These raids had been ordered by the Minister of Finance who according to the news report had been very critical of the laxity in carrying out raids by Excise Officials. Some by the offences being committed at these nightclubs are listed in the above report as, providing entertainment after stipulated times, permitting school children to patronise clubs, selling liquor at high rates, sale of adulterated liquor. The Exercise Commissioner appears to have been galvanised into taking immediate action by constituting four teams of officers to form the raiding parties which raided the twenty one night clubs including the Five Star Hotel in question after the raids were ordered by the Minister. Several matters arise for consideration: One is that the Excise Department has been in existence for a long time. Part of its modus operandi would be conduct raids to check on infringements of the conditions of the license by the licensees under which they are authorised to operate. If so had the raiding parties gone into hibernation? Or were they well aware of what was happening and preferred or were induced, Nelson like, to turn a blind eye to what was happening around them. How else could one explain the fact that five unauthorised night clubs had been raided within two days together with the sixteen authorised ones? Is it not patently clear that the Excise Officers knew of the existence of the unauthorised nightclubs? How else could they have raided them like the Assyrian coming down like a wolf on the fold?. As for the licensed nightclubs either they had not been under the surveillance of the Excise Dept. or, what is more likely, it was persuaded to turn a blind eye to their on going activities. Having now hit the headlines and by implication the public know how efficiently this Department can get about its business, what assurance can the Commissioner give the public that these raids will be conducted regularly and that these offending nightclubs will be kept under strict surveillance?. We understand that the Minister has called for daily reports. We hope these daily reports, will awaken the Excise Department from its deep slumber of induced indifference. Secondly, what is equally serious is that the raids were conducted after the Minister is supposed to have ordered them and after he was very critical of the Department. Legitimate Why is it that Public Officers wait till they are ordered to get about their legitimate business by a Minister? What explanation can the Excise Commissioner give the public of the country for his inactivity till the Minister ordered the raids to be carried out? Are the excuses puerile as lack of staff: or lack of vehicles or fuel etc? If the Senior Officers of this Department were alive to their responsibilities they would surely not have waited till their Minister ordered them to raid the nightclubs in question. The public would like an explanation being offered by the Excise Commissioner for what appears to be a serious lapse of the department. Entertainment Thirdly, consider the nature of the offices committed. One is providing entertainment after stipulated times, which we understand are as follows: In hotels approved by the Tourist Board, bars and night clubs till 11.00 p.m, hotels not approved till 10.00 p.m. in five star hotels till 12 midnight and wine stores etc till 9.p.m. only. It is clear therefore, that no night club can be open for serving liquor after midnight. How then are most of these places open for long hours sometimes till the next dawn? There can be no excuse for this on the part of the managements of the nightclub. They should have known surely what closing time is. They should inform their customers what the closing hour is. Failure to do so stems from the knowledge that no one will come to check if the law is being complied with or not. Perhaps no officer from the Excise Dept. or any where licensing authority would ever have insisted on compliance with this condition of the license or raided them for non-compliance. How many and how often have they been raided followed by a prosecution in a Court of law. Will the Excise Commissioner or other licensing authority, like a Local Authority, go public and allay the fears of the public. On the subject of these night clubs and places of entertainment operating outside prescribed hours here is an authentic experience Consumer Watch is aware of. A recently opened Pub and Club on Havelock Road provides entertainment to its customers, night after night, till the early hours of the next morning. Music starts around 9.00 p.m. and goes on almost non stop till the crack of dawn much to the annoyance of the residential neighbourhood. The drum beat Boom! Boom! goes on incessantly and people get up from their sleep sometimes at 1.00 or 2.00 am and then find it difficult to get back to sleep till the early hours of the morning when one becomes conscious of this Boom! Boom! It is no easy task to get ones mind away from it. Appeals to the Management have proved unsuccessful. Representations to the Local Authority have produced some results. But, the nuisance has not ceased. It is the responsibility of the Authority granting the license to ensure that its conditions are complied with and if they are breached, to warn the offending party or suspend the license or even to cancel it. It is the non implementation of the conditions of a license that makes the licensee think he can do anything and get away with it. Other countries enforce the closure rule very rigidly and effectively. It is when those nightclubs are open for drinking dancing and other activity that the young fall victim to excessive drinking drugs, sex and other malpractices. Consumer Watch therefore calls upon the Local Authorities, Police and the Dept. of Excise to keep these establishments under strict surveillance. Now that the Minister has ordered this to be done let there be no excuses. The news item referred to at the outset refers to even school children being permitted to patronise clubs. This is most inexcusable and any management that permits school children to get exposed to late nights at clubs where drinking, dancing and adult behavior goes on, should be condemned out of hand. This also should be a sufficient ground for the severest punishment being imposed on the Management. Drugs such as marijuana, cocain etc. are not unknown to the youth of today many of them including school children are said to be addicted to drugs. If this state of affairs goes on, what will be left of our youth baffles imagination. Consumer Watch would like to see the Excise, Police and the Local Authorities to act in co-ordination to keep the night clubs, gambling places and casinos under close surveillance. In an age when values are fast eroding and a lawless and violent society is struggling to be born, we see a very statutory example being set in India. A news item from Delhi says Indias Supreme Court calls for quiet, bans horns and loud music at night. The news item says that million of Indians may sleep easier after the Supreme Court banned loud music firecrackers and honking of vehicle horns at night. Lawsuit The Court order prevents horns being sounded between 10.00 p.m. and 6.00 a.m. and also bans firecrackers, loud music and parties between the same hours. This order had been made in response to a public interest lawsuit calling for action against noise makers. The AFP report from Delhi says health experts say noise pollution in India has emerged as a major cause of heart ailments and other stress related diseases. The above opinion of health experts would be applicable not only in New Delhi but anywhere in the world. The Fort area of Colombo City was once a Silence Zone and no honking of vehicle horns was allowed. We doubt if the law has been changed. It is just that the law is not being enforced even when there are many traffic policemen on motor cycles. The C.W. raises the question whether, with our over crowded roads, and the dangerously ubiquitous three-wheelers with their unlicensed drivers, which too appear to be fitted with powerful and disturbing horns, the whole of the city of Colombo within the entire Municipal Limits should not be declared a silence zone? Every day our neighbourhood is disturbed by a van selling ice-cream. On a three wheeled pedaled cycle, with music disturbing the neighborhood in total disregard to one and all. Not to be outdone a man pushing a cart collecting cardboard packing cases has a radio fitted to his cart with a loud speaker at full volume. No one was listening to the news that was being broadcast not even the carter himself but everyone was compelled to hear the loud cacophony that was going on. Consumer Watch is deeply concerned that laws are not being adhered to. In the public interest we call upon the IGP, the Commissioner of Excise and the Mayor and Local Government Authorities to see that laws are implemented and complied with, before other tragedies strike us. Concerned individuals and Organizations can contact us at 143A, Vajira Road, Colombo 5. |
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