Haiveta preparing to tackle social problems

Gulf Governor Chris Haiveta says family values are vital in the fight against the use of marijuana and homebrew in the province and country.
He said this during a family gathering in Port Moresby on Saturday which also coincided with his 59th birthday.
Haiveta said the onus was on families to support the church which, in turn, would support his government.
“You support the church, the church supports me and I have less of a problem,” he said.
“We’ve got problems with some of our own children who are drinking pine (homebrew) and smoking marijuana and doing wrong things.
“Those things are linked to practices in Port Moresby, they’re linked to practices down in Kerema, at Malalaua.
“We have to look at how these young children are being looked after.
“We have to take charge of them within our families and make things right.
“Let’s not think that there are no problems; there are problems within our families.
“We need to help get those sorted out together.
“One family – mother, father and children – cannot do it on their own.”
Haiveta vowed to support his family group and others to address the most social issues that are  common in Gulf.
“For me, a family is the basis on which we build the village and build the province,” he said.
Haiveta thanked all who had supported him to take the Gulf regional seat after 10 years.
He said his government was now charged with the task of cleaning up the provincial government and administration after problems of the past 10 years.
“The more we look into it, the more we realise what’s happened over the past 10 years,” Haiveta said.
“There’re no systems and processes of government in place in Gulf. We are building from scratch – which means no money, people getting paid who’ve been manipulating the system and the public service. We have to make changes.
“I will take on those challenges as we go along.”