Have you noticed that the area around the Sir John Guise Stadium is very clean?
That’s because mothers from various settlements in Port Moresby have taken ownership to clean this area throughout the FIFA U-20 cup period.
The women are actually part of the NCD Active City Programs - Walk for Life and Yoga for Life and according to NCD Governor Powes Parkop, have been doing community clean up in their respective settlements for nearly two months now.
This morning, Loop PNG caught up with at least 15 mothers from the Eight Mile settlement who were picking rubbish along the footpath outside Meat Haus and ANZ Bank, near the traffic lights.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Margaret Gomengi, from the Hela Province, said they were happy to contribute in a way to give a positive image of Port Moresby.
“We clean up every Tuesdays at Eight Mile settlement and since this place is very dirty, we decided to help and clean up. There is no payment for this, it’s just a community clean-up.
“So we’ll go all the way around stadium to the gate and NCD will collect the bags of rubbish when we’re done,” she said.
Gomengi added that with the development taking place, people should change their mindsets and start taking ownership of keeping the city clean.
“We are proud to do what we can,” she continued.
Gomengi also believes there are two ways in everything.
“We contribute through community clean-ups so when we ask the government for something, the government can consider our call and not turn a deaf ear on us because we’re not here doing nothing.”
Governor Powes Parkop said these are the same group that welcomed the FIFA U-20 teams at the airport and adopted a visiting team each.