By Barnabas Manebona
CHIEFS and community leaders of Tamboko area, West of Honiara, have been called on to address the ongoing practice by youths to block roads demanding money from passing vehicles.
The call follows an altercation over the weekend involving a prominent member of Honiara’s business community in which Tamboko youths blocked his vehicle and threatened him and his family, which included their month-old baby.
The family were on their way westwards for a weekend leisure picnic when they were stopped and demanded money by youths brandishing crow-bars and other weapon-like objects.
Speaking to Island Sun the concerned person shares that it was a traumatising incident for him, his wife and their children.
The youths were purportedly demanding road maintenance money, but the manner in which they approached drivers was menacing and violent, says the concerned man.
The youths reportedly hit the vehicle sides and windows with their hands while demanding from the passers by.
“It would be good for leaders of communities down there to talk to their youths to stop doing such idiotic activities because they are just victimising members of public unnecessarily,” he says.
West of Honiara is the leisure hub of the capital where people go to weekend picnics, parties or just to relax away from the hassle and stress of the city. World War II relics and wrecks there, along with ideal dive spots, make it a tourism destination.
Similar incidents have also been reported in several social media posts recently.
