Alcohol and drugs must cease in Papua New Guinea

By LYTHIA SUITAWA

 

CONSUMPTION of alcohol and drugs are revolting habits that must cease if Papua New Guinea is to progress.

University of Vudal Vice Chancellor Professor Philip Siaguru said this when opening the 39^th annual Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship (TSCF) conference at the university on Good Friday.

“Alcohol and drug abuse continues to infiltrate youths and matured workers alike in this country,” he said.

“Youths are making drinking their God because they learn from their fathers and mothers.

“The society must check itself and discard this habit.”

Prof Siaguru said many times alcohol and drug abuse caused youths as well as adults to assault, destroy or simply act in manners that defeated reason.

“The actions of a good majority of youths (and adults) today leave a lot to be desired,” he said.

“To be a God-fearing country, we must strive to follow procedures, compliance, good governance and live with disciplined and respectful principles.

“Sadly, many young Papua New Guineans allow themselves to stray from a disciplined code of conduct and create situations that place them in conflict with the law and they end up in cells and jails throughout the country which are simply filling up.”

He said young Papua New Guineans must begin to respect and obey the rule of law for a better country for themselves and their children.

Citing a recent report in the media on the high incidences of alcohol and sex related cases before the courts implicating university students, Prof Siaguru also urged educational institutions to unite to rid their campuses of what he termed as “alcohol related nonsense”.

“In a developing country with very little financial resources, we expect our educated youths to be responsible and humble enough to accept that the education sector receives very little financial attention from the government purse and whatever little we have acquired, we must care for,” he said.

He said students must accept that their present responsibility in society now is to successfully complete their studies.

The three-day TSCF event, which attracted more than 1000 students from tertiary institutions and secondary schools throughout the country as well as visitors from Australia, ended on Easter Sunday.