THE Tailevu Provincial Council’s long-term strategic plan for the province includes addressing the excessive consumption of kava.
Council chairman Rusiate Tudravu said grog drinking continued to pose a challenge for the province.
“Excessive drinking of yaqona I think is an issue that is challenging the provincial council now,” he said.
“It will be discussed when we go into our strategic plan.
“If you look around there is a lot of land in Tailevu and the challenge is with our youths.
“The majority of them are engaged in the indulgence of grog.
“Whilst we cannot totally stop people from drinking grog excessively, but we are encouraging them to live a healthier life and refrain from drinking grog excessively and live a better life.
“We cannot rely on government all the time for revenue.
“We need to have something in the village and the tikina to assist us with that.
“We cannot be wasting a majority of our time drinking kava.”
Mr Tudravu’s comments follows Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s plea to traditional leaders in the Tailevu province to watch their kava intake and encourage their people to do the same.
Mr Rabuka said kava drinking was one of the contributors to Fiji’s ongoing challenges with noncommunicable diseases.
