2 Aug 2012

Solomons capital official calls for public co-operation on betel nut

3:43 pm on 2 August 2012

A top official in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara is calling for public co-operation to reduce littering from betel nut.

Although it is against council bylaws either to discard betel nut husks or spit out the chewed nut, there is plenty of evidence that a high proportion of people are still doing both.

The Honiara City Council's acting city clerk, Charles Kelly, says while people are free to chew betelnut, spitting it out creates a health risk.

"The problem we have here is to enforce the council bylaws. We do not have enough staff to impose it. People are complaining about the council is not doing enough but we are doing every effort in every way we can. But we need co-operation from the public. We need that co-operation because after all, Honiara is ours."

Charles Kelly says the streets are a lot cleaner than they used to be 10 years ago, before people were banned from selling betelnut on the street.