By
Busa Jeremiah Wenogo
(Note: Buai and
betelnut will be used interchangeably in this article)
Port
Moresby residents are now warned not to chew buai in public places as the city
commission imposes the K500 spot fine. As of today (1st August 2016)
the spot-fine will come into effect, ironically just in time for the FIFA Under
20 World Cup to be staged here in Port Moresby. It seems a trend is developing
where the city commission toughens up on the sale and consumption of betelnut when
a major event is about to take place in the city. We have seen this last year
with the city hosting the 2015 Pacific Games so I expect this will be the case
when the 2018 APEC summit gets underway here in Port Moresby. If this is so
then I expect more gloom to follow the majority of informal economy city
residents. I am saying informal economy in general because the imposition of the
Buai Ban has had a wide spread impact on the sector as a whole.
In
my blog here I analysed the impact the ban had
on producers, suppliers, middle men and retailers. The ban forced people to
resort to illegal means to earn income often at the expense of poor farmers
back in the villages, particularly along the Hiritano Highway of the Central Province. In Port Moresby
the ban gave rise to a thriving “middle men” business most of whom used the law
to their advantage. The imposition of the K500 spot fine against chewers means
that the war against buai will come to its complete cycle.
When
the Buai Ban came into effect last year a mother was ran over by a vechicle
when fleeing from the pursuing buai enforcers. The picture of her child sitting
next to her lifeless body which was laying on the side of the road captured on
the front page of one daily news paper was heart wrenching. Her death was
tragic yet it heralded the beginning of the ugly and I might add fatal side of
the ban. No one was immune to the ban including the Motu Koitabu villages. The
death of a Hanuabada man and several injuries sustained by the villagers are
remnants of the harrowing impact of the ban, another tragic story. As early as
last week a youth from Tari in Hela province was shot dead by police when he
was alleged to have smuggled betelnut bags into the city in his vechicle. Since
then his relative can be seen marching up and down the street in Erima with a
wheel burrow seeking donations from the public allegedly to repatriate the body
back to the village and a “laplap” placard demanding retribution from the
government.
The
commission itself needs to also make it clear whether it is imposing a “total
ban” on the sale and consumption of betelnut or only “restricting” its sale and
consumption to designated areas within the city. Betelnut trade in spite of the
ban is thriving in all parts of the city and at times in full view of the
public including the buai enforcers. Even the engagement of Police to enforce
the ban has been controversial. Police officers are afterall constitutional
office holders who are tasked to enforce the law and deal with criminal issues
as per the Criminal Code and the Summary Offences Act. The sale of betelnut is
in no way a criminal activity and therefore the engagement of the Police is
unlawful. The only way to warrant or justify their engagement will be to
declare “buai” an illegal crop much like the marijuana. This would then mean
that its harvest, production, supply and consumption are illegal. Without such
declaration the engagement of police is simply unlawful. The only reason why
police was involved was to effect arrest as per the Arrest Act yet this is
unlawful as well when Buai is not an illegal crop. NCDC being the municipal
authority should only effect its laws and that includes Buai Ban by setting up
inspectors to ensure those laws are adhered to. Infact if history is any
indication of how effective NCDC’s partnership with Police has been under this
ban then the rampant report of police aided smuggling and police barracks
flushed with betelnut should disqualify any further partnership of this nature.
The
National Government at certain point needs to intervene to ensure the ban is
not “draconian” in nature. This is
because the sale and consumption of betelnut in Port Moresby affects every
Papua New Guinean regardless of one’s socio-economic status, cultural
background, ethnicity and religious affiliation. Port Moresby is a
multi-cultural city and the ban has already claimed lives. If left unchecked it
could claim more lives. Secondly, the economic and social loss of imposing the
ban is humongous. It deliberately goes against the national government’s
efforts to stimulate the SME Sector. Let’s be fair dinkum here the term “green
gold” is not given to buai for nothing. Just about most potential SMEs engaged
in the urban informal economy are betelnut traders. This means that betelnut is
responsible for sustaining the needs of the bulk of Port Moresby’s residents
and generating income that is crucial for keeping the formal enterprises such
as retail shops, financial institutions and transport in business.
Credit to NCDC the city municipal authority does have a plan to support cottage industry in the city but I don’t know whether that
includes betelnut. The cottage industry initiative in NCDC will not work if
does not include Buai because the reality is that the informal economy in Port
Moresby and other major center is dominated by Buai trade. In saying that there
is huge potential in the vegetables and fresh produce area of the sector but
land in Port Moresby is becoming scarce to fully support the Port Moresby based
farmers to develop this sector and ease the burden of cost experienced by most
city residents. The cost of living in most urban centres such as Port Moresby
is unbearable that most working class households are engaged in small scale
informal economic activities such as Buai sale to supplement their formal
income. In essence formal sector is heavily depended on the buai trade.
Above all the imposition
of the Buai ban is an abuse of human rights. At the height of its
implementation the public was subjected to unnecessary random checks. Most
times the rangers’ conduct was hilarious and uncalled for as they carried out
their roles in a misguided manner often at the disgust of the public. Now that the
K500 spot fine is being effected the public should remain vigilant to avoid
opportunists who may disguise themselves as buai rangers to take advantage of
the hefty fine. NCDC on its part should ensure that its rangers should be
readily and easily identifiable by the public to minimize such occurrence. Otherwise
the K500 fine will be unleashing another paradox from the Pendora’s Box.
