Graffiti problem

IN recent weeks, the news of young children doing graffiti in Port Moresby have been circulating on social media – particularly how they were either beaten up or painted over with white stuff.
These stories have now hit the front pages of our newspapers.
Some concerned people are asking whether such penalties were cases of child abuse.
I personally felt sorry for those children too, but I was also unhappy with how some people reacted in saying, “they are just kids!”
I cannot and we must not accept such comments.
Who teaches kids to go do graffiti or deface the art and work of someone who has done a good job in making a city such as Port Moresby attractive and appealing to foreign visitors?
It is a wonder how within the space of few months after the Apec Summit was hosted in 2018, almost all attractive pieces in Port Moresby have been defaced or some anti-social, stupid people have done graffiti over them.
The act of graffiti must be outlawed in PNG, and it must start in Port Moresby.
This is my suggestion.
All graffiti offenders must be caned in public.
They do that in Singapore and that is why Singapore is clean and attractive.
Think about this: the parents of those kids should have disciplined them and lectured them on their responsibility to respect the work and art of others.
Now, if the parents cannot discipline their children, then let the state discipline them, as in giving them five or more strokes depending on the severity of their offence.
Moreover, those offenders must be engaged in community work for a fortnight and be made to pay for the damage that they have done.
If the state cannot legally penalise graffiti offenders, as in caning them, graffiti will continue to mar the image of Port Moresby and other centres in the nation.
I suggest that the penalty of caning must also be applied to betel nut vendors and chewers who spit in public places.
Cane them publicly, take down their details and monitor them over a period of time to see that they do not repeat the offence.
I urge NCD Governor Powes Parkop and his legal team, the former Apec Minister and other responsible authorities to start the work on proposing a law in Parliament to cane graffiti offenders and betel nut vendors and chewers.
If you want to make Port Moresby more amazing, you must be strict and apply discipline or else the offenders will not take your words on the importance of hygiene seriously.
If you want Port Moresby to be clean like Singapore, you must work towards enacting a law that should give you the right to cane offenders.
Do something about it now.

Pom Patriot