Patrick turning a new leaf: No more homebrew-making

By ROSELYN ELLISON
WHEN a killing took place in his neighbourhood late last year, as the law and order situation around him continued to deteriorate, Patrick Ngaina pointed a finger at himself.
He blamed the illegal activity of producing and selling homebrew he was heavily involved in, which was causing all the bad things at his home in the Toma-Vunadidir local level government of Gazelle, East New Britain.
So despite the good income (up to K500 a day) he was getting from the homebrew trade, Patrick, 47, decided to give it up.
“I saw law and order issues in my ward on rise. One incident which was the last straw for me was a murder incident caused by the consumption of homebrew. Both the killer and the victim has been drinking homebrew.
“I felt very bad and blamed myself for the murder and other social issues in my ward. I felt responsible for all the bad things happening in the ward.”
Patrick is married with three children and attending secondary school today.
He wanted to become a priest after completing Grade 10 at Kokopo Secondary School in 1988. So he attended the St Peter Channel Catholic Teacher Training College in 1989. But after two years,e he gave up on it for personal reasons. He then worked for companies in Rabaul and Kokopo before returning to the village.
In 2018, he started making homebrew called Yawa or Jayjay because he wanted to earn quick and good money.
“I did not get a good income in agriculture and small businesses. I turned to this illegal activity because it was the fastest and easiest way of earning an income.
“In one day, I can earn around K200. On weekends, I get more customers and make more than K500 daily.”
His customers are mostly young people and even public servants.

“ I saw law and order issues in my ward on rise. One incident which was the last straw for me was a murder incident caused by the consumption of homebrew. Both the killer and the victim has been drinking homebrew.”

Last November, he witnessed the killing in his neighbourhood and decided to surrender the homebrew-making equipment to police. Eight other homebrew-makers joined him.
“We cannot just sit back and see lawlessness ruin our ward. So we created the Putim Was Komiti to stop the production of homebrew.”
The next step for the committee is to eradicate marijuana trading in the ward.
“We are working with our ward development committee members to identify the hot spot areas supplying drugs to our youth.”
Patrick wants to become an agent of change in his own community and encourages others not to produce, sell or consume homebrew which will destroy their lives.
He has already ordered 1,000 balsa seedlings to plant in his block as he tries to encourage the people to do positive things to improve their standards of living.
“No one from another province or country will come and change our ward, community, province and country. The change must come from us. We have to work together to stop these bad habits.”
That killing was the turning point in Patrick’s life. The would-be pastor is determined to turn a new leaf.