Buai, Mosi, Yabui, Buatau, Buwa, Vui, Beda and Guria are a few of the different names (out of the 800+ languages we have) we have for betel nut or areca nut in Papua New Guinea.

For those of you that aren't in the know buai is chewed with *daka which is dipped in *kambang. It is said to be a psychoactive drug and is also said to be the fourth most widely used addictive substance. Buai is associated with cancer, cardiovascular diseases, gum diseases and in PNG it is often the cause of many a places looking unsightly (buai spit, buai husks etc).

Traditionally buai was only chewed in the coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, but these days you find it as common in the Highlands areas too. So much so that these days buai is almost (and many would argue that this is NOT true) synonymous with being Papua New Guinean. At any funeral, birthday party, wedding, graduation party or *haus krai even if you're not sure about the menu or the program - the one thing you can rely on is that there will be buai.

Within Papua New Guinea buai is the main source of income for many urban dwellers and whether the authorities like to admit or not it is major contributor to the cash flow of the PNG economy. Buai sellers can make up to K500 a day and it is their main if not ONLY source of income.

Now that we have established the importance of buai and the technicalities we can go on with "Crack down on vendors" in the nations capital Port Moresby.

Wednesday the 9th of May 2012 was indeed a dark day in the lives of many Papua New Guineans who rely on they buai sales for their livelihoods. Assistant Police Commissioner Francis Tokura issued an order on that day, for policemen to remove ALL vendors from the streets of Port Moresby. While Mr Tokura and the NCD authorities have a valid point, (there are security issues associated with informal markets, litter would be lessened) how policemen and women go about following their directives is another issue.

It is not right for the very people who are supposed to be upholding the laws and protecting the rights of Papua New Guineans to be abusing their authority and intimidating AND BASHING the citizens of this country! Yes the police have the right to use force BUT they should use force WHERE NECESSARY!!! I mean seriously - pull out a fan belt to whip a middle aged, 150cm tall, frail looking mother? What sort of a threat would a woman of that description be to four or five, above 160cm tall, armed MEN? A threat, some loud words and all the officers standing together would have been ample threat to that woman. Using undue force is crime Mr Tokura and while we commend you and Mr Parkops efforts to clean up Port Moresby we suggest you make sure that no human rights are abused while cleaning up. Spin belting someone with a fan belt is all kinds of wrong.

Maybe the police academy and those recruiting officers at Bomana need to teach their new recruits, next year that "Sticks and fan belts can break bones - words can't hurt anyone unless you take them to heart".

*haus krai = a wake, in PNG a wake is a minimum of 1 week and can last up to a month.

*daka = mustard,  Piper betel a member of the Piper longum family

*kambang = slaked lime