Government is making it easier for people to obtain liquor licenses as it moves to repeal the 1957 Liquor Licenses Act.
The Liquor License Bill 2021 being debated by the House of Assembly today takes the responsibility for the issuing of liquor licenses out of the hands of the law courts and vests those powers of administration and implementation in a civil Liquor Licensing Authority to be set up under the Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
The Authority, to be headed by a director, will be responsible for administering the proposed new legislation; issuing licenses; supervising licensees and the operation of licensed premises and for the general enforcement of the Act which also provides for the issuing of nine categories of liquor licenses.
In the provisions, the legal age at which minors can now purchase liquor will move from 16 to 18, while the Bill also restricts employment of minors under age 18 for the sale or supply of liquor at any establishment.
Introducing the Bill, Minister of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Kerrie Symmonds said it was part of Government’s plan to make doing business easier and was designed to modernise the system for the issuing of liquor licences and to regulate the sale and supply of alcohol. (GC)
