Chairman of the Bar, Club and Entertainment Owners Association, Rugiirwa Katatumba, has rejected Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara’s proposal to have bars open from 3 PM, arguing that the move would hurt businesses without addressing alcoholism or drug abuse.
Rugiirwa says he initially thought Balaam was joking when he heard about the proposal because he could not imagine bars waiting until 3 PM to open.
I think it is just a joke, or if not, Balaam was drunk to think about such a thing. You cannot tell me that bars have to be open at 3 PM.
For Rugiirwa, the proposal becomes even harder to implement for businesses that combine bar and restaurant services.
He questioned how such establishments would handle customers who arrive earlier in the day looking for both food and drinks.
Some bars are bars and restaurants. How will they tell a customer who asks for food and alcohol, ‘wait until 3pm’?
Rugiirwa also doubts that restricting bar hours would stop people from drinking.
He pointed to supermarkets and shops, where customers can still buy alcohol and take it home.
Someone can buy alcohol from the supermarket, so even if you close bars until 3 PM, they will buy it from the supermarket and take it home. Alcoholism will not be solved by closing bars.
Rugiirwa therefore maintains that limiting bar operating hours would create more problems for entertainment businesses without tackling the reasons behind alcohol and drug abuse.
For the bar owners’ representative, the solution lies elsewhere, not in forcing bars to wait until 3 PM before opening.