Sierra Leone: Tax incentive to cut down alcoholic content in beverages

A street kid in deep sleep after drinking himself into oblivion 

Sierra Leone`s government recently unveiled a tax incentive that will encourage alcoholic drinks manufacturers to cut down on alcohol content.

Drinks with alcoholic content of less than 10% would attract between 20 and 30% reduction in exercise duty, a move the National Revenue Authority (NRA) said was aimed at guaranteeing a “steady and sustainable streams of revenue” to finance the provision of public services and support government`s development plans.

It also said the move would align the country`s tax system to those of other Ecowas member countries.

But for health campaigners, the benefit could go far beyond that. They have already interpreted it as response to warnings against rising levels of alcohol addiction in the country.

Last year, civil society activists mounted a campaign amidst rising number of deaths among street kids as a result of proliferation of illegal alcoholic brews.
Competition from Indian manufacturers has not only killed the local alcoholic beverage market, but the products of their more sophisticated breweries have become a source of danger for the country`s youth and by extension security.

The so-called packet alcohol, which comes in various forms and shapes but mostly in tiny sachets, with alcoholic content as high as 70 percent, can cost as low as 500 leones ($10 cents), affordable to even school kids who take them to school.

This has been blamed for a number of deaths among young people

in recent times.

A 2009 survey by the health ministry indicated 17% of the country`s population, aged between 25-64years, consumes alcohol, leaving them vulnerable to all sorts of non-communicable diseases.

The government is cautious about acting against manufacturers not just for the huge tax gains involved but also the employment they provide for a large number of youths, despite the contestable salaries.

Jobless youth

The lucrative liquor industry has seen the number of brews in the
country multiply within a short period; most of them illegal.
The lack of proper regulations in their production, distribution and
consumption means that the level of alcohol content in them is
determined only by producers.

Faced with the pressures of joblessness, youth who seek solace in
drugs and alcohol have fallen victim of the situation. And the stronger the alcoholic content, the more attractive the drinks are.

The Foundation for Democratic Initiative and Development (FDID), a
leading youth led civil society group working on community drug prevention, counted 26 deaths within two months last year.
Between February and March, 16 kids died at the Sewa Grounds alone,
located a stone throw away from the State House. That`s a crime infested area which houses a market and car parking, and it serves as heaven for the street kids who gain few leones by
washing cars or carrying loads for shoppers.
At night the nearby stores serves as their sleeping grounds.
“Some of the kids are as young as 8,” said Hindowa Saidu, Executive
Director of FDID.
While the boys indulge in thieving, the girls get on with prostitution, he added.

During elections, politicians prey on them, only to abandon them after
using them in all sorts of dubious manners.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Sierra Leone is one of a few countries with policies that control the use of alcohol.
“Clearly those who are responsible are not working because production
and consumption of alcohol is not regulated here,” charged Saidu.

No age limit

Shankadas, an Indian owned brewery, in 2006 took the market by storm
when it introduced drinks in sachets, making it more easily
accessible.
As a result alcohol is sold just like water in packets in the streets.
Homemade brews, some done inside living rooms, have since joined the scene.
But the absence of proper control means that neither age limit no
point of sale is restricted.
It is therefore common to see hawkers carrying all kinds of alcoholic
brands in sachets and other containers in the streets.
Even students buy and take alcohol into classroom for lunchtime, a
caller on a radio talk show recently lamented.
There are over a dozen brands of these sachet drinks, and they go by various names, some sounding as bizarre as their contents - Pega Pack, Tyson, Caffeno Gin, Officer, Double Punch, Pine Apple
Gin, Fruit Wine… New brands emerge like daily.
These drinks were popular features of political gatherings, serving as
fuel for violence, said Saiudu.
And when blended with other hard powdered drugs, he added, the stake gets higher.
“Their [young people] hearts are too young to take the power of the
effect of the alcoholic content…,” he lamented.

The government sees the companies as just another job creating means.
But FDID blames the apparent lack of consumer protection policy and the “ineffectiveness” of the Standard Bureau, the government body
responsible for determining suitability of such consumables in the
country.
At the offices of the drug and law enforcement agency in Freetown, no
one was at hand to talk in the absence of the director because the
staff strength had been reduced.
“If we do not rehabilitate the minds of these youth we are going back
to another thing… Our fear is anyone could indulge these youth,” stresses Saidu.