Illegal rum shops in Essequibo causing decline in sales of licensed liquor restaurants

Dear Editor,

I am the owner of a liquor restaurant and I am licensed to sell alcoholic beverages to consume on the premises and to take away.

I have owned and operated this business at the above address for more than twenty years. But recently I have been experiencing a sharp decline in sales, especially of the Banks DIH products. I am very worried about this situation, and have made several checks only to find out that the salesmen on Banks DIH delivery truck are selling large amounts of liquor to persons in the area who are not licensed to sell liquor, and according to the law can be prosecuted for having more than certain amount of liquor on their premises. There are several persons in my area who are operating these so called ‘bottom house’ rum shops. This practice is creating unfair competition for me.

I made a report to the manager of the liquor company at Airy Hall on the Essequibo Coast, but from that time to now, this situation has got worse. I also made several reports to the Suddie Police Station, but nothing has changed. A report was also made to Banks DIH Head Office, Thirst Park; the official there had promised me that my report would be investigated. If anything was done I will not be able to say, but these illegal rum shops continue to operate.

While I am not afraid of competition it is unfair for me to compete with persons who do not have to maintain a building and surroundings, pay staff and meet all the requirements before a licence is issued. I am not saying that this illegal practice is being encouraged by the company, but I am surprised that no action has been taken and the bottom-house rum shops continue to flourish.

We all know that the Chairman is very much concerned about the unfair competition that this company is faced with. He has made this known to all Guyanese at every opportunity presented to him, and I think that we all agree with him.

Having said that I am looking forward to both the police and the company getting this situation changed.

Yours faithfully,
Whitmon George
Editor’s note

We sent a copy of this letter to Mr Troy Peters, PRO of Banks DIH Ltd, for any comment he might have wished to make, and received the following response from Ms Nadia Singh, Corporate Legal Officer:

“We hereby acknowledge receipt of your letter dated February 9, 2011 along with correspondence penned by Mr Whitmon George.
“Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to comment.

“Please note that we support Mr George’s contention.  This issue has always been one of concern for us.  It has been articulated at several of our Company’s Annual General Meetings and other fora that every effort must be made to eliminate any kind of illegal activity which undermines legitimate business activities.

“As Mr George correctly stated in his letter, this is an issue for the Regulatory Bodies to address.  The Regulations are already there; enforcement of such will redound to the benefit of all concerned.”