THE West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers Association (WIRSPA) is one of the oldest trade and producer organisations in the Caribbean. In colonial times when sugar was king, rum, its main by-product, was regarded as next in importance. WIRSPA was accordingly as prestigious both in the West Indies and in the colonial mother-countries and exercised much influence.

Today, WIRSPA has a membership that includes all the rum-producing countries of the Caribbean except Cuba. Its membership consists of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Haiti, Dominica, The Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, Guadaloupe and Martinique are Departments of France and Puerto Rico is an American territory.

Just as whiskey is the wine of Scotland and Champagne is the wine of France, rum is the wine of the Caribbean. Countries outside of the Caribbean have tried to produce various brews and pass them off as rum, but their poor quality soon betrays their origins.

In the past, WIRSPA concerned itself solely with the problems of the industry, in particular in matters of marketing, but had never focused on consumer interests. Last year when Mr Komal Samaroo, Chief Executive Officer of Demerara Distillers Ltd, was elected chairman of the association, he adumbrated a revolutionary policy which was in the consumer and social interest of the nation. He emphatically called for limited and moderate use of alcohol. At that time, many quipped that ‘Komal had stolen the thunder of the religionists who had always preached against rum and had outdone them at it.’ But Mr Samaroo’s call did not fall on stony ground, but was well received by government, social workers, the religious bodies and consumer organisations.

This year, in his second term as Chairman of WIRSPA, Mr Samaroo again called for responsible drinking and limiting use of alcoholic beverages. This year, however, he has fine-tuned the proposal and given it a practical shape and direction. In his words; “While we as individual producers are active at the national level in supporting efforts to reduce harmful drinking, as a group, we intend to intensify those efforts starting in 2018. In this regard, we have established a task force to look at a range of issues including labelling, advertising and promotion, and online marketing, incorporating international best practices.” These words refer to the whole Caribbean, but he was equally practical and realistic in referring to his own country and company: “We will seek to broaden the involvement of all producers, distributors and retailers of alcoholic beverages, so as to achieve the fullest impact from these commitments and we will engage stakeholders on these issues to ensure that our engagements are meaningful and credible. . . Demerara Distillers plans to engage government and non-stakeholders to determine how the industry could best contribute in practical ways to the implementation of policies and actions to mitigate the impact of harmful consumption.”

Harmful consumption of alcoholic beverages and in particular rum, has been a historical affliction of Caribbean societies. In the 18th century, rum was mistakenly regarded as a cure-all and was liberally drunk by the planter community, many of whom became near-alcoholics. And during the high days of Indentured Immigration, workers were often paid in rum, which entrenched excessive rum-drinking among them. And excessive rum-drinking soon spread to the villages and towns. All villages now had several rum shops and in Georgetown, there was literally a rum shop at every street intersection. These rum shops in the 19th and early 20th centuries were owned by Portuguese who were experienced in the art of wine-making from their native Madeira; and every rum shop accordingly had its own blend.

The excessive rum-drinking resulted in widespread liver and other bodily ailments, as well as numerous alcoholics and there was little or no medical treatment. In addition to destroying health, excessive rum-drinking resulted in families not having money for basic necessities including food. Domestic violence and neglect became characteristics of many working-class families.

The efforts of religious bodies and social workers could not stem the tide of excessive drinking. Despite the fact that from the 1950s beer and other lighter imported alcoholic drinks became available and popular, hard liquor continued to be ubiquitous and desired; the same social ills which excessive drinking caused continued. Today, the courts, social departments of government and concerned NGOs attribute to excessive drinking, the present upsurge of wife-murders and killing and maiming of women; neglect of children; breakup of families; ill-health and many serious traffic accidents.

The social services departments, concerned NGOs, including the Consumers Association and the religious bodies — Hindu, Muslim and Christian — have been working with some modest success in confronting alcoholism, drunkenness and violence emanating from over-indulgence in liquor. Now, for the first time, the producers and distributors of liquor have joined the campaign and this historic event has now brought all stakeholders on board.

WIRSPA could model their task force’s efforts on what has been done in respect of Tobacco Control legislation throughout the Caribbean, which includes not only labelling and advertising, but also methods of selling, health warnings, graphically publishing examples of the negative social effects to which excessive drinking leads and to use the media, including social media, to convey messages. We are confident in our hope that with concerted efforts of all stakeholders and in particular with WIRSPA’s committed help, excessive drinking could be eliminated from Guyanese and Caribbean societies in the foreseeable future.