Hotel Keepers

Lecture For Hotel Keepers

tels in two areas of Fiji came the spotlight recently—at Siga and at Suva. e Licensing Court refused to v the publican’s licence for the :oka Hotel for 1961 after hear a report from the Sigatoka iship Board Health Inspector, long the defects the inspector J. Dixon) listed were: Mo permanent hot water; Mo toilet for female staff; Mo wash-house or laundry; and Mo main surface drainage m. e Magistrate (Mr. M. J. C. ders) said there was no point mewing the licence as in its nt condition the building would conform to new eating house ations which will come into on New Year’s Day. wever, he gave the licensee a ce to put things in order by :ing an adjournment till De er 16, when he will again con ;he health authorities about the . As that is the last day this when the Licensing Court will it Sigatoka there will be no val for 1961 if the hotel does reach the required standard, len licences came up for re

newal at Suva, the Magistrate (Mr.

R. M. Ambrose) called all hoteliers before him and gave them a lecture on how he expected them to conduct their premises. Before renewing licences he made a personal inspec tion of all hotels.

Mr. Ambrose based his lecture on the apparent increasing amount of drunkenness in Suva and the fact that licensees did not appear to carry out their duty to exclude those worse for liquor from their premises.

While publicans and their staff probably ran into difficulties in keeping such people out, he had personally noticed in tours of public bars the presence of over-intoxicated and disorderly people.

A Fiji correspondent reported that it was to be expected, as the number

of hotels in Fiji increased, com petition among publicans would be keener to build up their bar trade.

He said some were likely to over look the presence of “drunks” as long as the till kept clinking merrily.

It was in this direction that Mr.

Ambrose’s warning lay, and as he had given publicans a lecture at the end of 1959 when the 1960 renewals were due, it could be expected that he would keep a close eye on hotels next year.

A group of Mormon families of Tonga, totalling in all 50 persons, arrived in Auckland in November by special PAA flight from Fiji.

They travelled to the big Mormon centre near Hamilton and returned home at the end of the month.