“A disorganised piece of writing from a disorganised government,” is how the amendment of the Liquor Act was labelled by National Federation Party member Lenora Qereqeretabua.
Contributing to the debate on the amendment of the Act yesterday, Ms Qereqeretabua said while the extension of licences to five years may be fine for big hotels, it did not work for everyone.
She said they had heard many stories about people spending government welfare payments on alcohol and becoming a nuisance to others.
“So now we are talking about extending licences in situations which may be harmful to some communities,” she said.
“But of course this Government does not consult anyone and it does not care. And there is nothing new about that.”
Meanwhile, Social Democratic Liberal Party member Simione Rasova questioned the purpose of the existence of the Central Liquor Board and divisional commissioner offices if the approval of the extension was carried out by the Minister for Rural Development.
Supporting the amendment, Minister for Rural Development Inia Seruiratu said the amendment would ensure the ease of business for liquor outlets and small hotels.
Minister for Commerce, Trade and Tourism Faiyaz Koya accused the Opposition for not supporting efforts of Government to build the small and medium-sized enterprises sector in Fiji.
Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum clarified they had amended the extension of liquor licence operations from three to five years.
Mr SayedKhaiyum said the focus of the Bill was, “highlighted in Section 43 of this amendment Bill.
It says notwithstanding subsection 2 any person may apply for renewal of a licence after the expiration of the term licence if the authority, the Liquor Board, is satisfied that the person did not apply for the renewal of the licence due to COVID-19 restrictions.”
The amendment was passed yesterday.
