Lord mayor appeals: Keep our children off the streets

LAE residents have been urged to discourage the engagement of children in street selling, begging or similar activities in the streets and other public areas.
Lae lord mayor James Khay said parents should be the first to stop their children from engaging in such activities
“Parents should not let their children roam the streets, doing street vending or begging,” he said.
“They should be responsible for their children.”
Khay said the growing number of children engaging in such activities started with parents’ failing to keep them busy at home or have them in school.
“These kids sit on the sides of the roads begging, collecting cans or bottles or selling items on the streets,” he said.
“As parents, we have to take full responsibility for our children as it is not by mistake that they came into this world.”
Khay said parents needed to take responsibility of their offspring and not leave the burden solely on the State or city authorities.
“Parents should be the answer to this problem and I call on them to take responsibility and supervise their children and put them in school as a priority.”
He said children who did not have parents needed to be sent to their villages to be looked after by their relatives.
This would be one way to solve the issue of children and youths on the streets.
He urged the public to help discourage this behaviour by not entertaining these children by buying goods from them or giving them money.