Deyalsingh: Ban on public alcohol consumption unlikely

File photo: Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh. Photo by Angelo Marcelle
File photo: Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh. Photo by Angelo Marcelle

HEALTH Minister Terrence Deyalsingh says the Bar Association’s proposal to the government of a temporary ban on all alcohol consumption in public spaces is, at this point, a “non-starter.”

In a statement last Friday, the association said bar owners cannot control drinking outside their premises, and proposed a 60-day legal ban on all public consumption of alcohol.

It said, “If food and alcohol consumption are deemed high risk at controlled legal business establishments, then it should be deemed an even greater risk in public spaces where there’s no measure of control.”

But the Health Ministry’s virtual press conference on Wednesday morning, Deyalsingh said he spoke with Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi about it.

But, “He has indicated to me that the legislation required to give life to what the association has suggested is going to require three-fifths majority legislation, as it infringes on many rights in the Constitution.

“So at this point in time that might be a non-starter.”

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