The Kokopo City Authority has declared a total ban on betelnut and smoking within the town area.
This includes streets and residential vending of betelnut, cigarettes and other items starting from Kokopo Secondary School to the Omorong roundabout.
The ban was made known by the Kokopo City Lord Mayor, Benjamin Mesmin Murliu and the town manager Freddy Lemeki
Mr. Murliu says the ban will also include smoking and chewing in PMVs, careless driving, graffiti on public properties and other acts of vandalism.
The ban will be effective starting on the 18th of November and carries a maximum penalty fee of up to K500 for whoever is found breaching these laws.
The mayor says an informal sector market is being planned for the informal sector and insists the public to follow the new town’s regulation.
By Edwin Fidelis – EM TV News, Kokopo
