2 May 2011

Papua New Guinea told a whole of government solution needed to booze problem

1:40 pm on 2 May 2011

The deputy leader of the Papua New Guinea opposition, Bart Philemon, says the country's problems with alcohol cannot be addressed on a piecemeal basis.

Mr Philemon says PNG needs a national policy on how to cope with what a recent report called a culture of intoxication.

He says as well as better enforcement and new legislation, it involves changing attitudes to alcohol and this would need a whole of government approach.

Mr Philemon says the Department of Community Affairs has laid out ideas but it doesn't receive any state funding to undertake its work.

"They have done better now under Dame Carol Kidu because of her tireless effort in trying to raise the level of that very important department, but still it hasn't got sufficient manpower, no financial resources, to back it up. So there's a lot of good policies that she has pronounced that remain on paper as policy and that's the whole of government problem."

PNG deputy opposition leader, Bart Philemon.