Initiatives must be launched that can create real results, as a follow-up to the temporary alcohol ban in Kujalleq Municipality, believes member of the municipal council Ivalo Motzfeldt (IA).
Friday night came the sensational news that Naalakkersuisut had introduced a temporary ban on the sale of alcohol in the Municipality of Kujalleq at the request of the municipal council led by Mayor Malene Vahl Rasmussen (D).
The ban includes the sale and serving of drinks with an alcohol content of 2.25% by volume and above. No end date has yet been set for when the ban will expire.
Municipal board member Ivalo Motzfeldt (IA) writes in an open letter to the mayor that it is absolutely essential that the ban be followed up with concrete measures:
– Everyone in our municipality who has an addiction, their relatives and others in need of help must have support. Only through a special effort to reduce the use of alcohol and other drugs can we start a development in the right direction.
– If the alcohol ban is to have a positive effect, we have to offer treatment and address the root causes of the problem, writes Ivalo Motzfeldt, who mentions, among other things, that treatment offers from Allorfik should be spread even more in the municipality’s towns and villages.
Comprehensive problems
Ivalo Motzfeldt acknowledges that problems surrounding alcohol abuse are large in the municipality:
– They are so extensive that around payday we experience a serious shortage of employees, parents who neglect their children, adults who commit abuse against children, violence and other consequences of alcohol abuse.
– For the sake of our children and all citizens, we have to move on, reads the open letter from Ivalo Motzfeldt.
The municipality invites dialogue on solutions
A letter was published on Kommune Kujalleq’s website on Sunday, in which the municipality expresses its understanding of strong reactions to the intervention. The municipality recognizes that the ban also affects citizens, businesses and license holders who have a responsible relationship with the sale, serving and consumption of alcohol.
In the letter, the municipality invites joint dialogue in Qaqortoq, Narsaq and Nanortalik to find solutions:
– Here the municipality wants to gather citizens and relevant actors for an open and honest discussion of the challenges – but above all of the solutions.
– What can we do better as a municipality? What can families and communities do? How do we protect our children better? How do we strengthen prevention? And how do we create a development where interventions such as the current one will not be necessary?
