Betel nut ban will cause poverty: Yaninen

Business

THE betel nut ban imposed by the National Capital District Commission will affect those who depend on the selling and buying of the fruit, an official says.
Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSME) Council president Desmond Yaninen said thousands of people would end up in poverty.
“The timing of the betel nut ban is not right,” he said.
“It will place a great strain on MSMEs involved in the growing, transportation, wholesale and retailing of the nut.
“Denying our poor citizens a means to earn a living without providing them alternatives will result in an increase in poverty, and the accompanying problems of petty crime, violence, particularly gender-based violence in homes as parents are unable to feed their children. Many of the people who enforce laws to prevent the betel nut trade have been reportedly confiscating the nuts and later reselling them.
“This is criminal.”
Yaninen alleged that betel nut vendors had been killed when police or NCD workers raided betel nut markets.
“The MSME Council fears that a ban will undoubtedly lead to the loss of life,” he said.
“We call on the NCDC to enforce the Informal Sector Act and fine sellers rather than ban betel nut completely.”
Yaninen said Section 14 of the Informal Sector Development and Control Act of 2004 allowed betel nut trading but under conditions.
The NCDC can collect as much as K1,000 per day in fines and over K300,000 per year.
Yaninen said the Department of Community Development, responsible for the informal sector, should conduct a survey of the betel nut trade and make recommendations on how to continue betel nut trading but in a formal and hygienic manner.

9 comments

  • Ladies and gentleman, poverty comes to lazy people. Can you get back to your land and use the God given hand to cultivate your fertile land to fight poverty. Too much land for cultivation is available. we have stop unhygienic way of living. If you are talking about buai, it is rated a drug at workplace by many employers, yet PNG promotes buai …. disgusting and lets think positive way of living and move into the future with brighter ideas of innovation and enjoying the beauty of this beautiful nation of PNG. Buai never brings any thing good to our health, we are promoting the rubbish that makes us all look rubbish in front of foreigners. Uphold the nations beauty and maintain it gentlemen and ladies of PNG. Think Positive and foresee your future ahead.

  • Yaninen as the SME president should encourage grassroots people to look at alternatives instead of complaining on behalf of lazy drifters who continue to create filth and become an eyesore to law-abiding citizens by not adhering to simple rules and selling anywhere they like. Trading the red nut is truly the lazy man’s way of making fast and easy money. We can not continue to allow this primitive habit to continue and hinder our progress towards becoming a modernized society like the rest of the countries of the world.

    Its about time the government and the the local MPs send people back to their home districts and provinces and start investing heavily in agriculture and downstream processing so that people may work their land and have readily available markets. There is no excuse for urban migration and indulging in this dirty habit of beatlenut trading in urban areas when we have the most arable land in the world where we can grow just about anything. We only need brains to organize!

  • When educated people like mr yaninen use excuses like poverty to promote the sale of betel nut it does not help the cause of ridding pom of disgusting spittle, rubbish, deaths from being chased by police, possible spread of COVID-19 by people congregating and to assist the NCD governor regulating it. And dont use the fines as justification for NCD to make money. Its about changing people’s behaviour and complying with the law and promoting a healthy environment and outlook of the city.

    I believe its a good time, for lazy people that live off betel nut and use the lame excuse that its the only means of living, to opt for better and legal ways to make money to make a living in pom. When educated people like yaninen promote the sale of betel nut alot of those lazy people selling betel nut see it as support from leaders to embrace and continue with selling betel nut when the NCD governor and his team are tirelessly trying their best to rid the very thing yaninen is trying to promote.

    No one should be living in poverty in pom nor in papua new guinea for that matter – only lazy people who yaninen is encouraging will.

  • Yaninen got this completely WRONG! His argument lacks substance. Sompla taim tintin na toktok, nogut pride kilim yupla na wokim kainkain toktok nau… It’s unbecoming of a staunch SDA to support buai for a start… madness taking over moral….

  • Des is inundated involving himself in promoting MSME which I was thinking he has a strategy to work this people to SMEs and to bigger business. But now you mentioned betel nut that you wanted to promote. Even MSME should not exist as we already have SME Corp. To promote such things destroying our city, our image is not what we as good citizen expect. Just imaging all betal nut rubbish is dumped into the roadside drains which causes blockage and water starts to destroy roads. For instance, Manu- now the NCD have build a concrete road to avoid such issue. Also the Costs of fixing and building roads and water ways around the city are far more than 300000. No Politics, its our city.

  • Poverty hahaha ,when one door closes other doors will open up for hard working people. betel nut sustaining the economy no no. Betel nut is in fact the main cause of poverty for many addicted chewers,they spend on buai instead of food and other needed essentials .Wake up PNG stop running out of money making idea .MSME is about creativity making use of the land and resources we have and starting small ,not every one selling betel nut ,smoke,coke and snax biscuit on the road side and you call that MSME ..WHY becomming lazy in a land full of milk and honey ,

  • em memba blo palament or??..

    sore u toktok osem man i no go lo skul.. u bikpla man tumas , open your mouth when what you trying to say is better than your silence. before you speak connect your tongue to your brain…

  • I am a supporter of SMEs and Desmond Y but I am sorry that on this issue I agree with everyone that Desmond is wrong. Yes betel nut supports families to earn income but there are better, safer and healthier options that Desmond should research and promote. He should discourage betel nut selling and encourage those selling the nut for a living to get into a different form of SME activity. The disadvantages of betel nut chewing far outweighs the argument that it is an income generator for families. Betel nut has been classified as a carcinogen by the WHO, that means betel nut is now recognized and accepted as a direct cause of cancer, in PNG mouth, tongue, lip and cheek cancer. We are crying out for cancer treatment but supporting the promotion of a habit and a drug that directly cause cancer? Desmond I think you need to retract your statement and change your position. It’s not always about money. You should look at promoting SME holistically. The policies that you promote and encourage must be healthy – meaning must consider the health benefits as well. Please revisit your position.

  • Selling betelnut is a lazy person’s job in a land full of opportunities. It should be completely done away with.

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