BY BARNABAS MANEBONA
THERE was confusion, chasing, yelling and fighting everywhere along the Central Market bus-stop last week Friday evening for more than four hours caused by pick-pocketing.
This huge nuisance experienced daily is worsening being too much now from understanding of citizens seeing even children being younger than their teenage years involving in it.
There seem to be no law or Officers working properly to ensure the safety of citizens from usual thugs commonly known as ‘Beligas’ in the country’s capital over which serious urge is on the table for responsible authorities to address such criminals of this nation that are causing too much nuisance for its general public.
“That evening was one of the worst times at the Central Market bus stop. I mean what was going on or that was experienced?” said a surprised local Henry Tivania among witnesses expressing the scenario of Friday evening as ‘lunatically unimaginable’.
“When people were struggling to get on board public buses to return to their respective homes after a hard day’s effort, here came these unprofitable thieves adding problems by trying to steal in between people going as far as even entering the public transports to do their stealing practice inside.
“While others shouted at another thief inside a public bus, another would be punched near another public transport and so which was too much of a scenario raising the question too in what are such people doing in Honiara. Or what is their purpose of living in the country’s capital.”
According to the general public, there should be strict law by the Honiara City Council (HCC) to do away with such practices as Officers should always be manning the streets for such people rather than just usually chasing harmless betel-nut vendors who are trying to earn a living.
“We struggle joining the workforce of this country to earn a day’s living as well as trying to make our environment a better place however at times now being common, we become victimised by lazy people who ruin us with their nuisance ways of stealing and creating problems for other people,” said locals within Honiara.
Pick-pocketing (Beliga) practise is not only witnessed daily at the Central Market but all over Honiara City’s corners too in which citizens strongly point that their safety should be a priority under the laws on this nation.
Not only that but how will the world view Solomon Islands if foreigners too apart from locals continue to experience such abnormal practices in the heart of its capital town which is a fact that will cause hiccup to this country’s development from many angles.
