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Battle over betel nuts in PNG

Liam Fox reported this story on Sunday, October 6, 2013 12:39:34

ELIZABETH JACKSON: It's as Papua New Guinean as the bird of paradise - chewing betel nut is something of a national pastime in PNG (Papua New Guinea).

But the Governor of Port Moresby is sick of the mess that it creates and has banned the nuts from being sold in the city or being chewed in public.

Chewers on the other hand are worried that it'll be a hard habit to break, while those who sell the betel nuts say a ban will just create a black market.

PNG correspondent Liam Fox.

(PNG police officers arguing with members of the public)

LIAM FOX: City officials in fluorescent yellow vests are patrolling Port Moresby's CBD enforcing the new ban on selling betel nuts and chewing them in public. They've surrounded and old man, Stanley Korandi (phonetic), who they suspect is selling betel nut, or buai, as it's known.

At first he denies the allegation, but after they search his bag and find several green nuts - like miniature coconuts - he admits to selling buai.

STANLEY KORANDI: No money, we've got no money. I'm selling this and then I get money.

LIAM FOX: The officials escort Mr Korandi to a police station to receive a verbal warning. Others, like a woman caught chewing betel nut around the corner, don't go so quietly.

(Policeman and woman argue loudly)

The blood-red spittle that chewing produces stains Port Moresby's streets. There's hardly a metre of pavement or road that isn't marked by red blotches. Discarded husks clog the gutters.

Port Moresby's governor, Powes Parkop, says enough is enough.

POWES PARKOP: We get the rubbish and the filth, and they get the money and the benefits. Now it has to be another way around, where they help us to manage the city in a hygienic healthy way, and they still get their incomes.

LIAM FOX: Governor Parkop has banned people from chewing betel nut in public places and from buying and selling it outside designated areas.

POWES PARKOP: The betel nut vendors and chewers, they sell anywhere, it's hard to control and regulate them, and this is why we have to resort to this extreme, if you like, measure to control this particular activity.

LIAM FOX: At the Hohola Market, a red-mouthed John Wikas (phonetic) says he chews between 50 and 100 nuts every day. He says for him, chewing is like smoking a cigarette or drinking a coffee, and kicking the habit is going to be hard.

JOHN WIKAS: We look alright, we look smart when we chew. Without this one, we fell like lazy and sleepy and something like that.

(Market haggling)

LIAM FOX: At Hohola, people can still buy and sell betel nut, but from next month, all trading will be banished to markets outside the city. Buai seller Mike Kiru (phonetic) says the ban will just create a black market, and there are other ways to keep the city clean.

MIKE KIRU: Instead of banning this issue, tell all vagrant on the streets around here to just do the cleaning up.

LIAM FOX: But governor Powes Parkop says chewers and the people who supply them have to change their behaviour.

POWES PARKOP: And I know we cannot stop that, but my ultimate objective or goal is to degrade the sale and chewing and spitting of betel nut to a level where it's not a liability and a health hazard in our city.

LIAM FOX: After a month's grace period, those caught chewing in public, selling betel nut in the city, or importing it by land, air, or sea will face hefty fines. This is Liam Fox in Port Moresby for Correspondents Report.

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