Dear Editor – Theres a need to find a lasting solution to the brewing, sale and consumption of illicit ‘kwaso.”
In the Solomon Islands the many problems arising from homebrew, or referred to locally as “kwaso”, are common and known to have persisted for many years without the illegal trade being stamped out.
I have read that in neighbouring Samoa, a Supreme Court Justice has described alcohol abuse there as a pandemic and put much of the blame on cheap, easy access to locally brewed fire water; I suppose the same as “kwaso.”
Samoa’s addiction services agencies like the Salvation Army and the NGO Teen Challenge Samoa whose programme manager Leatuolo Mabel Toilolo has put much of the blame on local largely unregulated brewers who market products like “Rover Vodka”.
“This alcohol that has been manufactured here, is accessible in the fact that it is cheap, way cheaper than our local brewed beer Vailima. And the content of alcohol within the bottle, it’s high. It’s about 33 percent alcohol,” she said.
Some of the alcohol content in the local brews is as high as 40 percent by volume.
Leatuolo said the people they work with are aged 12 to 35 years old and the bulk of them come via court referrals while a smaller number are victims coming forward of their own accord.
She said the numbers across the board have more than doubled since the service began, going from 136 cases in 2017 to 285 last year.
Quoting from Radio New Zealand bulletin – 5 February 2021
Samoa recently promulgated an Alcohol Control Act 2020 which aims to limit the availability of alcohol, reducing its consumption and its harmful effects.
Does the Solomon Islands have such legislation and, if so, would it help to bring an end to the brewing, sale, and consumption of the illicit homebrew? Also, are there any lessons that could be learned from Samoa’s Addiction Services that could be usefully adopted at home?
Frank Short
solomonislandsinfocus
