Targetted Policy Essential To Win
The New War

With peace culminating the war on terrorism, a new front opens to combat crime and substance abuse – a movement towards prosperity. Whilst terrorism ripped the lives of the people in the North and East, chaos and fear reigned in the hearts of the South, as crime and disorderliness took hold in a intuit of apathy by our leaders. The arrest and killing of several underworld figures in Colombo and its suburbs can be deemed comforting, but the recent criminally-inclined outbursts by certain sections of the Police did significant damage to public confidence. Law and order are paramount to building a progressive society, and government must charter a bureaucracy and a course that is both exemplary and effective.
The publicity focus of the new fronts falls primarily on the concept of ‘Mathata Thitha’, or the government’s programme to curb substance abuse and intoxication. The subject is hot platform topic for the gain of the politically efficient and even the pathetic, and the banners and placards that once hailed the might of our forces have made way for action on ‘Mathata Thitha’.
The broader objectives and outcomes of ‘Mathata Thitha’ are laudable and is a policy to be pursued in the interest of the development of our nation. But policy-makers, civil society fronts and the public must come alive to the practicalities and truths that prevail in the open within the society we live in.
Prohibition is failure – it would never work; it can only serve as a breeding ground for further misdeeds. The best examples stems from the United States, where prohibition in the 1930s saw the birth of the mafia and organised crime holding sway in every state. It is difficult to assume or expect our countrymen to transform into a nation of teetotallers. In Sri Lanka, 92 per cent of all alcohol consumed during a year is illicit reported the World Health Organisation in its Global Status Report for 2004. The illicit trade in Sri Lanka flourishes as a result of high taxation on legal produce coupled with serious issues in distribution due to licensing. With just 2,500 outlets licensed to sell legal liquors (five-star hotels included), that number pales in comparison to the 200,000 illicit breweries as acknowledged by the Excise Department. The Excise Department made 48,000 detections in 2006; that’s a startling 132 raids everyday. The estimated revenue loss to government annually is a staggering Rs. 60 billion.
It is also evident that taxation that does not effectively target those who abuse alcohol or who have risky drinking patterns is futile in search of a solution.
The most compelling evidence against taxation as an effective policy measure against abuse comes from countries where rates are traditionally high. In these countries, consumption patterns are high. In developed countries, alcohol is taxed based on volume with lesser restrictions on price and positioning for soft alcohols. This process has proved fruitful in controlling abuse and harmful consumption in those countries. The rationale behind increasing taxation based on alcohol content as a policy measure, is that by making beverage high strength alcohol more expensive, it would modify drinking habits and directing consumers towards less harmful alcohol, which is more akin to the government policy of ‘Mathata Thitha’. Increased incidence of violence and other evils resulting from people behaving under the influence of alcohol also poses danger to public life and society. The focus thus must be on curtailing illicit alcohol rather than restrict the legal business.
The legal alcohol industry poses a much simpler target, that being an industry which is contributing significantly to government revenue and lesser social harm.
If the government’s intention is to protect public health, then it must look beyond the confines of legal, branded liquor market.
The illicit sector and its growth are clearly significant. It is myopic to implement policy that ignores the presence and state of the illicit sector. Steps must be taken to study the correlation between high-strength alcohol abuse and low-income groups.
The illicit liquor industry is also linked to criminal elements and actions that stem from its brewing and consumption. Thus, any effort to control and curb its presence would yield the dual benefit of combating crime and substance abuse as espoused in the Mahinda Chinthanaya. To overcome, we need effective policy and action to refute common belief that politics breeds and gains from both these criminal elements. As done with the war, action will put to rest all qualms and claims.
With multiple reports of manslaughter and pillage creating headlines from various parts of the island, we are today a nation tottering over a crag of lawlessness. With crime becoming a growing trend it is then apparent that we have failed to address the causes of this issue. We have also failed to implement visible and effective measures to curb its spread; to deter people from criminal acts. The mere introduction of the death penalty will fall short of this objective. It must instead take form of efficient policy that addresses the gamut of societal needs that would deter people from criminal resort – laws that must be practiced and upheld by those who are commissioned to design and guard them. Effective policy and planning pave the solutions for the length of societal issues that plague the liberated Sri Lanka. What we seek now is a punitive process to identify and implement them – again a test political maturity and strength.