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Solve it when you can
Story by: Editorial
JUST imagine spending a substantial amount of money on a property to give it a better look with a paint job. Twenty-four hours later it is defaced with another paint job, this time illegally 'orchestrated' under the cover of darkness or even daytime by certain idiots. We won't try to describe the feeling of disgust and frustration that the owner feels when their property is damaged in that manner. But the question we would like to pose is what the authorities can do about controlling and hopefully eradicating graffiti, a problem that not only Papua New Guinea is faced with but other countries as well. It may be a trivial problem compared to the law and order issue that has been the biggest challenge that this country continues to face. But like has been said on many occasions before - if you don't fix a small problem it eventually becomes a bigger problem. That if you don't get treatment for a small sore it gets infected and becomes bigger. That if you are feeling a little sick but do not seek medical attention it may develop into a life-threatening situation. There are many examples of "little" things being allowed to become major issues in Papua New Guinea. For instance. Many years ago (and we hate to mention it but especially during the colonial times), drinking in public places was very uncommon and was a no-go territory. Anybody walking around with a bottle of beer in public was quickly reported and pulled over by the police and the necessary action taken. When Papua New Guinea gained Independence things started to change. Some for the better and some for the worst. While we had more freedom to run the affairs of our country ourselves, it seemed the tendency to break laws became a risk that many more people than before were taking. So you have situations where you have jokers walking around public swerving from side to side with a bottle or can of beer and making a nuisance of themselves. If it's not beer than it is something with alcohol properties like "steam" or a zombie-like person under the influence of social drugs like marijuana. But they are not jokers anymore when they start harassing innocent people or destroying property. What happens? Does the public take ownership of the public ground that they are standing on and do something about it? Do they approach the nearest police station and report the matter? But then again if it is reported how quickly do the police respond. If nothing happens and in most cases it doesn't, this begins a chain reaction that leads to a breakdown in law and order. Consider this - man reports incident, police do not respond and if they do so much later, culprit gone unpunished. He either continues to behave like that in the future or when a similar situation is unfolding in front of the public, nobody doesn't even want to waste their time reporting the matter to police. They just look the other way and stay out of the idiots' way. Isn't that breakdown in law and order? So it won't be surprising if someone had seen that "graffitist" at work. Nobody reports him so he gets more bolder and eventually becomes a menace to society defacing more properties. We have just tried to illustrate how a small "thing" can eventually develop into a much bigger problem. We commend National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop for his efforts to clean up the city by taking the betel nut issue head-on. We hope his troops from the City Hall extend the campaign to the graffiti problem. The Governor has put a ban on betel nut sales in public places. A 30-day deadline has been placed on city residents involved in the betel nut trade to abide by the directions issued or face penalties. If that works then we should be rid of the dirtiness that the betel nut trade contributes to. However, we see another challenge looming. How do you control those who travel around with their own supply of betel nut from littering and spitting all over the place? The challenge is really on all the betel chewers to be a lot responsible with their chewing. Because the extreme case could be the banning of chewing betel nut in public places. That might be the next option. It would then become the social pastime that betel nut was initially intended for by our forefathers. That betel nut was chewed at social gatherings or within the confines of your own property and the spitting was kept in those boundaries. This was abided to in the strictest terms. Because there was the belief that if the refuse from the betel nut landed in the hands of a sorcerer it was the end of one's chewing days whereby you ended up in a grave to be chewed up by termites. |
EDITORIAL
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