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Unpractical Excise law runs into storm
View(s):The move by President Maithripala Sirisena to close down 349 liquor outlets that have violated the stipulated operational regulations has run into a storm with Excise Department officials saying that it was not practical and towards this end they have sought the advice of the Attorney General.
Senior officials who could not be named said that they had also sought an urgent meeting with the President to discuss the matter further as there were several complicated issues and in some cases it was not practical on one hand and was counter-productive on the other.
According to the Excise Ordinance Act it is illegal to operate liquor stores, bars or related outlets within 500 metres of schools, temples and places of worship.
The officials explained that if this move was to be implemented then many liquor outlets even in five star hotels and other places of up market entertainment will have to shut down since many of them are situated close to schools and places of worship.
Such a step will have an adverse affect on the tourist industry and the entertainment sector, they said.
They conceded that this Excise law had been in place from the very inception but was overlooked at the time the tourist industry was developing with the introduction of the open economy system in the late 1970s.
They added that it was almost impossible to change the geographical locations of the restaurants and bars because both these outlets together with schools and places of worship have been in their respective locations for many decades.
The President apparently has been ill advised but his Office will have to think afresh on the matter before the directive could be implemented, they added.
City Hotelier’s Association President M. Shanthikumar told the Sunday Times that the industry would be making a strong request to the President’s Office to reconsider the implementation of this directive since it is bound to affect tourism
The hotels in question have been in existence for the past four decades or even more with the liquor outlets getting Tourist Board and Excise Department approval.
The Excise regulations would have been in existence even at that time but it was a State authority such as the Tourist Board that endorsed the approval, Mr. Shanthikumar said.
At present when we are targeting a figure of 2.5 million tourist arrivals into the country all stake holders including the Government must act wisely and ad hoc decisions will not help this cause, he added.
President Sirisena endorsed the directive during a meeting with the members of the United Narcotics Prevention Operations Committee (UNPOC) at the Presidential Secretariat earlier this week.
The move came following a large number of complaints received from the public and civil society.
-L.B.