‘Bar owners will suffer if told to arrange cab for drunk customers’

Panaji: A day after All Goa Bar and Restaurant Owners Association (AGBROA) said that arranging cabs for drunk customers is not possible, BJP’s Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik on Friday said that bar owners will suffer if the norm is implemented.

“Goans drink alcohol, but they do not fall over, neither do they sway. So there is no problem,” former Home Minister Naik said, when he was asked whether implementation of this norm would be easy or not.

He said that if it is made mandatory that bar owners should arrange a cab for drunk persons, then they will suffer.

“Arranging a taxi? Bar owners will suffer. There are many tourists who come to Goa from Karnataka, Maharashtra and other places. They drink and get drunk. They drink (alcohol) worth Rs 5 or Rs 10 or Rs 100. Will they hire a taxi by paying Rs 1,000?” Naik questioned.

All Goa Bar and Restaurant Owners Association (AGBROA) has opposed the government move to arrange cabs for inebriated customers to drop them home or hotels in case of tourists.

Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho on Monday had said that arranging cabs for inebriated customers will be a new norm in the coastal state.

Michael Carrasco, president of AGBROA, on Wednesday had said that their association does not accept it.

“Minister says that accidents occur because people drink and drive. But drinking is not the only cause of accidents. There are various other reasons,” Carrasco said.

According to him the roads are not in good condition, there are potholes due to which accidents occur.

He said the faulty design of some roads leads to accidents. “Speed breakers are not properly painted, there are no indicators on roads,” he lamented.

According to Carrasco, if they try to convince their customers in that situation, then they might even fight with them saying when they have their own vehicle, why should they opt for a cab.

Last year too, Godinho had announced this initiative but it had not fructified. Recently, the police have intensified checks at night and had fined drunken drivers.

–IANS