Thursday March 28th, 2024
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The Booze Ban Begins

In a country where unemployment has risen to its highest levels in 30 years and our national reserves are at their lowest, it was nice of our government to be concerned with noise pollution caused by a few bars and liquor shops in satellite cities.

Staff Writer

No new alcohol licenses will be issued to stores, bars and restaurants hoping to serve up the good stuff.

The new rule will apply in newly built districts on the outskirts of big cities including the Fifth Settlement and the 6th of October, Nabil Abbas, vice-president of the New Urban Communities Authority, confirmed. Even worse, existing liquor stores in such areas will not be allowed to renew their licenses. Why? Well, “We cannot allow stores spreading debauchery in our society,” according to Abbas

This is a flat out assault on our freedom to drink. Yes, freedom to drink. With all due respect to the fact this a is a Muslim country, examples, like Turkey, show that religious and non-religious mentalities can coexist. No man should be able to question my morality and if it is an issue of noise measures such as sound-proofing or creating designated nightlife areas.

This is just another example of how the Muslim Brotherhood wish to normalise extremism. While people are busy protesting against the constitution the Ikhwan are already using it to Islam-ify a nation of moderates.

The cost to tourism of such a move might seem minute when it comes to these specific satellite cities, but the fact the government is thinking about this at all puts a black cloud over future touristic investments as few foreign company will be willing to put money into a project where alcohol will not be served.