Help youths, Yanis says

**Neville Billy (right), 16, assisting his friend Per Michael, also 16, re-gas a vehicle’s air-condition at Croton Street, Waigani, Port Moresby. – Nationalpic by KENNEDY BANI**

By PHOEBE GWANGILO
THE National Office of the Child and Family Service director Simon Yanis says skilled youths on the streets making ends meet demands intervention programmes.
Yanis said this following a recent media report of teenagers being involved in re-gassing vehicle air-condition on the streets of Port Moresby.
He said the Government was responsible to help them.
“The State is responsible for intervention programmes,” Yanis said.
“This is the reason why the Government has already taken the first step in establishing the children’s office.
“The Lukautim Pikinini Act is the Government’s intervention to protect children of 18 years and below.”
He wants the National Capital District Commission (NCDC), the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, through its crime prevention and restorative justice branch, the Department of Community Development, Youth Development and Religion, and National Youth Development Authority, to have an immediate intervention plan to help the increased number of youths earning on the streets.
“There must be some form of collaboration to address this,” Yanis said.
“The Justice Department is doing a better job with community restorative justice and they have programmes through community centres.
“But when it comes to NCD, we are partnering NCDC.”
NCD Governor Powes Parkop confirmed that work on establishing an office of child welfare was still underway.
Yanis told The National that youths could consult NCDC’s youth division as it was within their jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Department of Justice and Attorney-General juvenile justice service director Collin Sakap said the “juvenile rehabilitation and reintegration policy 2021-2031’ to assist youths was awaiting funding approval.