Tui Labasa urge families to curb excessive kava, alcohol during festive season

Chiefs and elders in the Northern Division have raised concerns over excessive kava and alcohol consumption during the Christmas and New Year festive period.

Tui Labasa, Ratu Jone Qomate, said parents needed to take ownership of their responsibilities and ensure Christmas was spent on family bonding rather than excessive merry-making.

Ratu Jone urged village headmen to ensure peace prevailed during the festive season.

He said alarm should be raised when youths engaged in multiple and prolonged kava drinking sessions, which negatively affected their productivity.

“Every youth needs to contribute to village prosperity, and when they spend many hours drinking kava, their productive zeal dies,” he said.

Ratu Jone emphasised that elders should enforce limits on kava consumption as a village rule to ensure families spent ample time together.

He added that older youths should lead by example for their younger siblings by limiting kava intake or avoiding alcohol altogether.

“We do not want people fighting during this festive period because it is a time to spread love and joy among our loved ones,” he said.

Nadogo district representative in Macuata Province, Ranadiceve Raluna, shared similar sentiments, saying family time should take priority over excessive celebrations.

Ms Raluna said village headmen must contribute positively and lead by example to curb excessive kava consumption, which could become addictive.

She also raised concern that women, in particular, were increasingly engaging in excessive kava drinking in groups while children were left unsupervised.

“This lack of supervision has led to many issues, including children spending more time on social media and accessing negative content while parents are away drinking,” she added.