PARTNERSHIP AND OWNERSHIP IS CRUCIAL TO TACLKING THE BETELNUT PROBLEM By Busa Jeremiah Wenogo If not most concerned and right thinking Papua New Guineans would agree that the real challenge in dealing with any issues affecting public interest is not so much to do with developing appropriate polices and laws but rather the implementation of those policies and laws. Therefore, it would seem logical for the residents of the city to acknowledge the efforts of the Governor and the rest of the team in NCDC in trying to manage a city that is every minute expanding in size and with it, problems. With that acknowledgement it is then important for the city residents to take ownership of the problem and work in partnership with NCDC to address these pressing issues for the betterment of all. One such problem that concerns the public and is becoming almost a pandemic responsible for all manner of filth and health problems in the city is the sale and consumption of betenut. The introduction of the Informal Sector Development & Control Act 2004 has been largely blamed by politicians, bureaucrats and municipal authorities such as NCDC for these mess. However true that maybe, this view is to a larger extent flawed with mis-understanding and mis-interpretation given that the Act does not necessarily open the “flood gates” so to speak for informal economic activities such as betelnut selling to flourish, as is deemed by most people. Although it does protect the rights for vendors to trade nevertheless it also emphasizes the importance of the role of the inspectors and the need for control (to be exercised in a less heavy handed manner) to be in place. The Informal Sector Development & Control Act 2004 was a law developed out of good intention including its accompanying policy (THE NATIONAL INFORMAL ECONOMY POLICY 2011-2015). The two key points expressed and advocated by the Act is “Control” and “Development”. In essence the Act does not give “total freedom” for the informal economic activities (including betelnut sale) to sprout like mushrooms. Unfortunately, that is a mis-understanding on the part of almost everyone concerned. Instead it calls for the growth of the informal economic activities to be done in a friendly and controlled manner. In recognizing the role of the informal economy in providing a “safety net” and the need to maintain consumer protection and cleanliness of the city, the Act in its wisdom called for a “controlled/regulated” growth of the sector. The National Informal Economy Policy 2011-2015 brings to the fore a whole new approach in addressing these problems such as littering, law and order problems, consumer protection and so forth that are usually said to be associated with the emergence of informal economic activities. It is worth noting that the policy goes beyond the conventional and narrow views of most skeptics of its accompanying law when it comes to defining and addressing the subject of informal economy. For instance, informal economy is recognized as making up bulk of PNG’s economy in terms of the people it employs, the total output that comes out of it, the money that it generates, the multiplier effects it generates throughout the society and the country and the people who benefit from it. In addition, in the policy it calls for a Public Private Partnership (PPP) approach where the government’s (this includes NCDC) role is basically to create a conducive environment for informal economy to grow. These roles includes building markets, having in place a suitable law and order regime, ensuring that urbanization plans takes into account the interest of the informal economy participants and providing technical skills training and agriculture extension program. Since the implementation of the Buai Ban Policy a lot of people both chewers and concerned citizens have expressed their concerns over the policy’s impact on the livelihood of most of the low-income and unemployed population of the city. Regardless, it is also important that those claims or assertions do reflect the reality on the ground. That means that possible solutions that we as city residents would like to offer as alternative to the buai ban policy must not necessarily attempt to address the problem only in the short run but is a solution that captures the medium and the long term impact of the ban. Needless to say, some of the problems that many people feared might happen as a result of the ban have already occurred and there is a high possibility that others may occur as time goes by. Without a doubt betelnut consumption and sale has been one of the instigators to all manner of disorder in the city however, there is also a need to recognize that lack of effective enforcement and dialogue between those parties that are affected and NCDC has led to the problem deteriorating overtime. In saying that we all must commend the initiative undertaken by the commission and the Governor as the problem is a result of consecutive governments’ lack of foresight and vision in addressing problems facing the city in the past. Simply, the problems affecting NCD is a result of lack of vision by other leaders of our country at various level to address their own people’s concern. Therefore, NCD has experienced large influx of people for many years now. Therefore, law and order, hygiene and filth have accumulated to a stage where drastic measures have to be taken. What we are calling for is for a proper mechanism to be in place that would allow first and foremost, the vendors to be properly organize so that they can communicate to express their issues and suggest solutions to the commission of the problems affecting them and the general welfare of the city residents. The Commission can also use this mechanism (may be an association of NCDC vendors) to express its concerns and plans for the city and thereby seek to achieve some resolutions and consensus. This is one of the main reasons why NCDC and successive governments in the past have been unable to properly and effectively control the growth of the informal economic activities in the city and other parts of the country. On this note NCDCs’ partnership with UNWOMEN under its Safe Cities Market Programme where vendor profiling exercise is done in markets in the city can be used to lay the platform to create such a dynamic and information sharing mechanism. It is also high time that NCDC need to have the enforcement (inspectors) be part of the NCDC’s structure and that they are equipped with proper knowledge of the laws, rules and regulations that are in place when carrying out their duty. We are all residents of the city and would want to help in addressing the issue in an amicable manner. Bringing everyone together to a round table discussion for the sake of ownership and partnership will hopefully start a journey to make our city one of the best cities not only in the Pacific but in the world. https://facebook/#!/pngblackeconomy
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 05:11:07 +0000