Betel nut sales in Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, are said to be worth 1.3 million US dollars a week, despite a ban in the city and efforts to crack down on the trade.
The Post Courier reports that about 186,000 dollars changes hands every day among betel nut wholesalers, retailers and the travelling public at various sites around the city.
A sign about the betel nut ban in Port Moresby. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades
There is a 24-hour local market where traders from Kerema and Mekeo meet with their Port Moresby buyers and clients who travel there at night by road and by boat.
The newspaper conducted a poll that revealled 24-seater buses travel to Pinu every day to pick up betel nut and drop it off at the beach.
Up to 100 vehicles travel to Pinu junction daily loaded with five, 10 and 50 kilogram bags of buai.
By sea, up to 150 boats visit Hisiu every afternoon to pick up bags of buai destined for other parts of the city.
