There is a misconception in the National Capital District where the general public thinks that City Hall is trying to ban betel nut completely.
Deputy city manager Honk Kiap says although they are still adamant to get this program rolled out, they are not trying to eliminate the sale of betel nut completely.
NCDC officially announced a partnership today with NCDC police to enforce the law of buai ban and to deal with people chewing betel nut in public places in the city.
“These people will be reprimanded and told to pay a spot fine of K500.”
Kiap says chewing is not problem. You can chew at your homes or in your private cars, as long as you carry a bag or container that you can spit into instead of sticking your heads out of a moving vehicle and spiting on to roads and sidewalks.
“By public places, we mean shop fronts, bus stops, in front of offices, inside Public Motor Vehicles (PMVs) like buses and taxis, airports, schools, sporting venues as well as hospitals and clinics, to name a few,” Kiap says.
There have been a lot of talk on social media about why NCDC is trying to stop betel nut completely in the city when there are people whose livelihood depends on the sale of the nut. However, Kiap says that is not the case.
“People should chew with some sense of responsibility and care and not to just throw the remains out in public places.
“For most of us, betel nut signifies our culture and traditions, which have turned into a habit overtime and we can’t force chewers to change,” says Kiap.
From the roadblocks that had been put up in the past to control the inflow of betel nut into the city, the authorities have realised that it had affected the other sector of the city; people who grow betel nut for money.
“Overtime, we have tried to weigh the consequence of the ban itself and we’ve come up with changes that we think is caused by the chewers in the city,” Kiap says.
This is the reason why NCDC is now changing their focus from those who are selling to those who are chewing but are not taking care of their own rubbish.
Starting this week, random checks will be done anywhere and throughout the city, especially in PMVs and taxis.
(Deputy city manager Honk Kiap, centre, explaining changes to the buai ban.)