The abuse of alcohol continues to be a serious and ongoing problem for the country of Solomon Islands.
This was revealed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Police and National Security, Edmund Sikua, during the opening of the Alcohol Rehabilitation Train the Trainers yesterday.Mr Sikua said that within the Police Force, the cost of running a no tolerance operations is becoming costly and less effective.
He says people are now turning to brewing illegal alcohol and planting marijuana for income and the production of these illegal substances are becoming part of their daily household activities.
The Permanent Secretary says police and the courts alone cannot curb the increasing problem of alcohol.
The Permanent Secretary urged participants at the one week workshop to cooperate stop the increase of alcohol abuse on the country.
The Training of Trainers is funded by the British High Commission to support the Church of Melanesia and the Catholic Archdiocese of Melanesia and the Ministry of Health to be trained by expert trainers from Kiribati, who are currently in the country.
The training will enable two of the country's largest church networks and the Ministry of Health's Health Promotion Unit to have a bank of trained trainers to work at the community and parish level to hold dry out clinics for alcoholics who want to be free of their disease and stop the terrible damage they are doing to themselves, their families and their communities.