John Kombe writes
@SunZambian
An upsurge in illegal bars in Chongwe has angered residents.
“Some of these bars operate up to the early hours of the following morning,” one resident lamented.
Paul Mumba of Libuko village told the Daily Nation in an interview that, liquor trade had been left unchecked for a long time.
“Liquor trading today is a free-for all-affair in Chongwe. Every other building is a bar. You can only wonder what kind of society we are building. Beer is being sold in backyards and the illegal traders even play loud music in residential areas. The closing time is also not known. We have even aclamatised to the noise pollution. This is not good for society. We need sanity in our district,” he said.
Another resident, Ms. Susan Tembo of Chikwela village described the situation as very unfortunate. “Our village is one of those areas where every other building is a bar. This has contributed to under-age drinking and illicit behaviour. Some of these places do not even have toilets thereby inconviniencing nearby houses with requests to use their facilities. We are appealing to the relevant authorities to go round and curb the vice. This is very worrying and may lead to serious problems is left unchecked,” she said.
Another resident who sought anonymity called on the council to do the right thing. “We appeal to the council to get to work. Some of these places do not have licences and even those that do are very untidy and do not even meet the minimum standards,” he said.