BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO
WHEN I moved to Erima three years ago I began to dread the weekends.
In Erima and other settlements in Port Moresby, weekends usher in a period of uncontrollable boozing. It is one of the major problems in Port Moresby.
Ask any person on the street and they’ll tell you it is now a way of life in Port Moresby. Children as young as eight can be seen in places like the Gordon Market indulging in drugs and booze.
School kids nowadays see the boozing culture as the ultimate initiation into manhood although most of them have yet to develop the mental capacity to be responsible drinkers let alone adults.
I wonder if we as a nation will one day stop and ponder about where we are heading.
I fear for a future living in an environment surrounded by drunkards and being at their mercy even in the workplace. Imagine a government where majority of the cabinet ministers are drunkards.
I mean nowadays everyone takes alcohol but I am concerned about those who have yet to develop the level of maturity that is required to be considered a responsible drinker.
“Drink bia olsem waitman na spak olsem Papua Niugini” is a famous saying in PNG that describes the Papua New Guinean attitude towards the consumption of alcohol. Drink beer like a white man and get drunk like a Papua New Guinean.
How many Papua New Guineans can be regarded as responsible or moderate drinkers? Mygut feeling tells me only a few.
Try take a trip into one of the big shops in Port Moresby or Lae on Friday and Saturday and be amazed at the long queue of people waiting to buy a carton or their favourite beer. No wonder SP has expanded its production plant at Gordon and gone into partnership with the world famous Heineken.
People who spend most of their life living in a settlement may probably argue nothing has changed. They may even argue that boozing is a culture that one has to get used to when living in a settlement.
I disagree. Firstly, it is obvious that the majority of drinkers are now youths unlike in the past and that alcohol has diversified from SP to include Coffee Punch and home-made brew. In fact youths are combining alcohol with drugs in pursuit of satisfying their fantasies.
Secondly, alcohol related problems have increased significantly. There are now more accidents on the roads and domestic violence in families is on the rise. Coupled with this is the increased incidence of youths harassing people while being under the influence of alcohol.
The money they generate from these petty crimes is spent on more drugs and alcohol. This vicious cycle has become common for us who live in the city.
For me and my family who spent most of our time in an environment where peace and order was the norm, coming to Erima was the most shocking experience of our lives. We were simply not prepared for a life in a settlement.
Moving to Erima was a decision we had to take. It was a challenging first couple of months as we moved to an environment of chaos and unpredictability.
In the first week we had sleepless nights, waking up to people singing erratically and passersby screaming at the top of their voice as if to suggest that we were not welcome in the neighbourhood.
There were couple of instances where I had to confront several youths whose continuous unacceptable behaviour got on my nerves. Seeing the strain it was having on my family, I decided to sell the house to make a quick exit.
But as the community began to accept the fact that we seemed to be here to stay, we decided to stick around and resolved to get through it. Our only hope was our faith in God.
Looking back I realise how much sacrifice we made and the nuisance we had to face up to. God protected us and bestowed us His favour.
Through this experience, I have developed a broader understanding of the struggle facing my community and the “neglected and down trodden” of PNG society.
To me it was as if God wanted me to experience something that he often anguished over. Something which I could not have come to knownif we had not moved in the first place.
While the boozing and recklessness continue, my family and I have developed a thicker skin. By going through the similar struggle endured by the community, especially the struggle for water, we blend with the community.
Yet every time I step out of my gate I realise how the booze culture has eroded so much of us as a nation. It has fuelled breakdown in law and order and led to ethnic tension and fights which has resulted in loss of lives and property.
So much of what is culturally acceptable in our traditional societies has been weathered away. The younger generation is less benevolent and respectful towards their fellow citizens. Most of them don’t have a sense of purpose and goal in life.
In place of hopes, dreams and inspiration, alcohol has created a world based on hallucination that only brings them closer to their own demise.