rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

new employment opportunities for the local
people, but high daily rates of liquor consumption
have been identified as a key
contributor to the problems. The challenge
laid down for the President’s Local Level
Governments (LLGs) is for the electorate to
work together in addressing the issue. This
resulted in a call on the District Administrator
and Bulolo MP, Sam Basil, to impose a
liquor ban in the district. 597 Following consultations
with various relevant authorities
in the electorate, Basil supported the moves
to impose the liquor ban and to improve
police presence in the area. This is one example
of a local-level response to problematic
alcohol use.
Another case where alcohol regulation and
business have conflicted is that of the Cargillowned
Higaturu Oil Palms, which involved a
Christmas party alcohol order in the disasterstricken
Oro province. 598 State-of-emergency
laws prohibited the sale and consumption of
alcohol in the province. The company, Oro
province’s biggest private sector employer, has
spent over PGK2 million 599 on humanitarian
assistance, mainly targeting its flood-affected
employees and villagers. 600 Staff claimed the
incident was a misunderstanding, while village
officials noted the behaviour breached
conditions of employment visas in addition to
being insensitive to the grief of their Papua
New Guinean hosts. Such conflict between
business and policy enforcement is an issue
that continues to emerge across the Pacific.
Despite calls in 2004 to address alcohol as a
contributor to violence, it continues to be an
issue in PNG. In 1995 the PNG Law Reform
Commission found that 71 per cent of the
women interviewed considered alcohol abuse
as a major cause of marital problems, with
26 per cent of those beaten by their spouse
relating the incident to alcohol. While it is
difficult to assess the extent to which this
situation persists, a key informant from the
PNG Highlands noted that substance abuse
is often identified as a trigger for violence
and injury where people presented to health
services. 601 The link between alcohol and violence
is supported by data collected as part
of a rapid assessment undertaken by the
123
597 Ibid.
598 Higaturu Oil Palms denies workers smuggled alcohol. Pacific Magazine, 24 December
2007, available at: ; and at World News Zone:
.
599 Equivalent to US$680 000.
600 Expatriates to be deported from PNG for taking liquor into flood emergency zone, Radio New
Zealand International, 17 December 2007. Available at: .
601 Personal communication, 2008; for links between substance abuse and violence, see Country
Profile: Papua New Guinea in WHO (2004), Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004: Western
Pacific Region, available at: ; Burnet Institute & Papua New Guinea Ministry of Health (2006, unpublished),
(Draft) Rapid Assessment and Response: drugs and alcohol, HIV and development in PNG
(findings have not been officially released).
Papua New Guinea