A SENSIBLE SOLUTION IS NEEDED TO TACKLE THE BUAI PROBLEM. (Additional Notes) By Busa Jeremiah Wenogo What is happening to NCD should be a wake-up call to all of us that the issue although concerning Buai is really about us recognizing the role that informal economy play in our nation’s development and welfare. Each of us should look beyond the scope of NCD as informal economy very much covers the entire length and breadth of this great country of ours. However, you and I well know that until and unless there is sufficient resources to support and sustain the outreach of a network of government agencies and private sector to work in tandem with vendors to holistically address these problems, there is nothing much we could do but try our very best to work within the limited resources that is available to us. Knowing and doing awareness on the National Informal Economy Policy 2011-2015 and the Informal Sector Development & Control Act 2004 are the best strategies in recognition of resource constraints. What further compounds the problem is the lack of interest shown by successive governments (except Dame Carol Kidu) in nurturing and utlising the informal economy as the spring board to growing the economy of this country. Until and unless the government recognizes the role of informal economy in PNGs socio-economic sphere and take constructive steps to address its constraints and issues, informal economy will always be viewed negatively. This is largely attributed to the lack of understanding and clarity on what is informal economy as in PNG when people talk about informal economy, they unfortunately talk about betelnut and cigarette selling. However, without realizing it when the government and citizens talk about agriculture sector they don’t realize that it is part of the informal economy and is often termed as rural informal economy given most societies in the rural areas of PNG are largely agriculturist. Thus, the call for people to be repatriated back to their place of origin and take part in informal economic activities will unfortunately be just a dream and will not materialize. We need serious commitment from the government to address informal economy as what it is doing to the SME agenda. Only then would the idea of having people going back and venturing in microenterprise activities in their own communities back home would seem feasible. In saying that what is happening to NCD could be a result of the lack of intervention by respective leaders in improving the lives of their own people. People are human beings and as human beings we all desire to improve our situation in our lives whether it be socially or economically. Unfortunately what is happening to NCD is a classic example of this dilemma. In my own opinion, Vagrancy Act will only be applicable only when such constructive measures or requirements like abiding by the laws and rules of the municipal authority like NCDC is not adhered to. Further, its implementation will have to be done in such a way that it does not penalize people unnecessarily and against their rights but comes into force only when a certain condition (like getting people to abide by NCD rules and regulation) is seen to be violated. The issue of informal economy is and has always been a very sensitive and sometimes controversial topic. This is unfortunate however as it is not only confined to PNG but is very much the same in other parts of the world (especially in Least Developing Countries and Developing countries). NCD is a very important and special case as what is happening to NCD could potentially be replicated to other parts of the country in the not too distant future. NCDs future is now at a juncture where modernization and traditional values and thinking are clashing with each other in just about all spectrums of the society. This is normal for a country/city in rapid transition. When this happens naturally one would expect the government to act more decisively and progressively. Imposing a ban on a very strong addictive like betelnut is however counter-progressive and counter-productive. What we need is regulation backed up by effective enforcement of the sale of betelnut. Regulation will raise much needed tax to sustain key infrastructures in the city and will penalize disobeying consumers and vendors. https://facebook/#!/pngblackeconomy
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 05:42:43 +0000
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