By ENNIO KUBLE
YOUTHS living in Nine-Mile settlement in Port Moresby surrendered more than 30 home-made guns and ammunition to the Guns Control Committee yesterday.
They also pledged to give up crime.
They were from five different sections of the settlement namely First Block, Backyard, Pukpuk, Shark and Sapea.
A group of people from Tari, who saw some Kerema settlers throwing in their guns, followed suit.
They said they would opt for a crime-free life from now on.
On hand to receive the weapons were committee chairman Jerry Singirok and officials from the Law and Justice Sector and National Capital District Commission (NCDC).
The settlement was started in the 1940s and had long been a high-crime area.
At one stage, there were eight gangs operating in the area.
Three weeks ago, Robert Brian, believed to be the head of all the gangs, decided to throw in the towel.
Brian’s turnaround came after he reportedly held up an expatriate who works for the Law and Justice Sector.
The officer returned to the settlement with some officers from the NCDC Urban Safety Unit and confronted Brian with his gangs.
The contact resulted in yesterday’s arms surrender.
The youths pledged to engage themselves with the community meaningfully.
A council member of the settelement’s Catholic church known as Aunty Lucy to the residents, said many of the youths came from broken homes and marriages.
“They did not have the opportunity to go to school, thus turning to a life of crime,” she said.
Brian said his father left him when he was a child and when he grew up, he resorted to crime to survive.
Community leader James Avosa appealed to the leaders and the NCDC to create employment opportunities for youths, particularly those without education.