Open selling of alcohol in residential areas of Yei has been banned to crack down on insecurity, an area chief has said.
Residents of five residential areas - Atlabara, Tarawa, Peace, City and Fata Dush - are no longer permitted to display alcohol for sale outside their homes.
Regina Jamba, chief of Tarawa, said the ban came after meetings with elders and community leaders in the residential areas to discuss sporadic night shootings affecting the area. Jamba was speaking to Christians at St. Comboni church on Sunday.
She said the consultations revealed that drunken persons with arms resort to sporadic shooting at night. She added that some of those involved in the shootings come from the area while others are from outside.
Jamba said gunshots heard in the evening in Yei town last week caused fear and anxiety among civilians. Local authorities demanded for investigation into the shootings[KR3] and threatened to deploy a force to the area to curb any acts of insecurity.
Area chiefs have resolved to arrest and punish women found displaying locally brewed alcohol outside, and will impose a 1,000 South Sudanese pound fine, Jamba said. She revealed that since issuing the ban order, gunshots had ceased.
“If we get you, we will charge you. We will first pour out your alcohol and then charge you,” she cautioned.
Jamba refuted residents’ allegations that the ban was harmful to business, saying it only restricted women from openly selling alcohol, but does not stop them from conducting their business.
Residents of Dam, Sopiri, Lupapa and City have flooded Atlabara, Tarawa and Nyakama in recent weeks following rising insecurity in their areas.
Atlabara area Chief Modi warned that those brewing alcohol could force the residents out if not controlled.
“We must be very careful in using alcohol. Alcohol has not been denied, but we must sell it in a very responsible way,” Modi said, while addressing residents in a wedding ceremony in the area on Sunday.
BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS