Vagrancy Act will never work in PNG: Kaupa

MORESBY North-East MP John Kaupa says bringing back the Vagrancy Act will never work in a country like Papua New Guinea.
“Papua New Guineans should not be deprived of their rights to freedom of movement. Law and order issues in settlements can be controlled by upgrading settlements to suburbs,”the MP said.
“People in the settlements want to build good houses and live decent lives too but they cannot do so because of issues with proper land allocation and security”.
“We are trying to convert settlements into suburbs and give residents land titles so they can own a place for themselves.
“All Papua New Guineans also have the right to own properties, not only businessmen and white collar professionals”. Kaupa said most of his electorate was made up of settlements and that providing better services for his people was all he cared about, regardless of their lifestyles and ethnicities.
He said delivering better roads, electricity, water, health, and education services were pressing challenges but securing land titles was the first priority.