The illegal liquor consignment was transported from Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province, to Wamena City in Jayawijaya District, Papua Police spokesperson Sen. Coms. Ahmad Kamal stated here on Tuesday.
However, before arriving at Wamena, located some 256 kilometers away from Jayapura, the pickup trucks were stopped by army personnel at the Benawa checkpoint.
The military personnel then handed over the cargoes, pickup trucks, and drivers, only identified by their initials as EP (33), RK (35), and A (32), to the Yalimo police precinct, he revealed, adding that 528 of the 884 bottles of liquor were "Vodka" brands.
Papua continues to reel from the grave problem of alcohol consumption despite a ban on the production, distribution, and sale of liquor in the province since 2016.
In responding to this challenging reality, the local police have persistently striven to crack down on liquor producers, distributors, and sellers there.
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The Papuan government has effectively banned the production, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages since 2016 in accordance with Regional Government's Regulation Number 15 of 2013.
The regulation is aimed at protecting Papuans from the detrimental effects of alcohol consumption, such as loss of consciousness and engaging in acts of domestic violence and crime.
Alcohol consumption has also led to deadly traffic accidents in the province. In 2019, the Papua police reported that the death toll from traffic accidents in Papua had reached 72.
The 2019 fatality rate was higher than that the count recorded at 58 in 2018. The Papua police claimed that alcohol consumption had become one of the causative factors for bad driving habits of certain motorists and drivers (RRI, 2019).
Moreover, in the context of Papuan communities, the consumption of alcoholic beverages may have contributed to the reduced life expectancy of native Papuans.
Taking into account the harmful impacts of liquor, native Papuans are expected to gain a collective awareness of the dire requirement to support the liquor ban by supervising the sales of alcoholic beverages at minimarkets and kiosks.
The local government and law enforcement agencies are advised to continue to impose legal sanctions against those found to be flouting the provincial regulation on the liquor ban.
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Translator: Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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