Are we losing the war on betel nuts?

IN its attempts to clean up Port Moresby, the National Capital District Commission tried to control the consumption of betel nut by instituting a ban.
The ban failed.
Residents of the nation’s capital have continued to sell, chew and transport betel nut during the period of the ban.
Now the commission has changed tact and is looking at regulating the sale of betel nut at designated areas.
Last month, Governor Powes Parkop announced the reintroduction of a partial betel nut ban and litter ban in public places.
The ban is currently being applied in Boroko first.
The ban is also to manage the abuse of betel nut vending, chewing and littering in the city.
While Parkop’s intentions are based on sensible points such as keeping the city clean, maintaining an aesthetically pleasing and hygienic environment for residents and visitors to enjoy, the people must accept this idea for it to be successful.
The problem is betel nut chewing is so widespread and the practice so ingrained in the population that Parkop cannot realistically expect his campaign to work overnight.
That will not happen because apart from the fact that betel nut occupies a large portion of Papua New Guinea culture, the harvesting, distribution and sale of it is a key source of revenue for many ordinary people.
These ordinary people are the unemployed city youth and families who all live on low incomes and struggle to make ends meet.
There are no easy fixes or remedies that can be applied to get the right solution.
This is a shift in mentality and practice that will take years to effect.
Betel nut chewing is a practice that can only be controlled and managed by educating the people that it is not a habit that neither improves one’s faculties nor has any health benefit.
The stains that chewers leave everywhere contribute to an unsightly look that many public places in the city exhibit.
There is also the health aspect to take into consideration.
The spread of germs, bacteria and airborne diseases is heightened where people cough and spit habitually – this is true among chewers, the majority of whom dispose of the spittle in any convenient location.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has been at the forefront of efforts to control the spread of tuberculosis.
For a city that is going to host a major international meetings this year, the thought of presenting the country’s capital with its red stained and grimy streets and walls is something Parkop wants to avoid.
But one must ask, is there enough time to get the people in line? If the NCDC’s various anti-betel nut chewing strategies have failed to have the desired effect so far then how can the city authority ensure that the mess created by chewers is minimised to an extent where it is not an embarrassment?
NCDC has to make laws that can be enforced efficiently and fairly.
If a ban is instituted then everyone must follow it, including everyone in City Hall. The city authority has to make sure the policing of the ban is carried out in a safe and ethical manner.
Maybe a strategy would for teachers to be involved by introducing the positive effects of the ban in schools.
This will take years, but eventually Port Moresby – and other centres like Lae, for example –will be a place we can all be proud of.