He said Police and the Department of Attorney General have now being tasked by the Government to look into the laws that can be made effective to establish the Vagrancy Act.
Marape announced this when responding to serious of questions raised by Opposition Leader Joseph Lelang last Friday during question time.
Lelang asked the Prime Minister whether the Government was considering introducing the Vagrancy Act in the country or not.
“If not, what is the government’s plan in dealing with the current rise in lawlessness, that is been caused by migrating of rural people into towns and cities,” he asked.
Marape, in his response assured the country that the Government under his leadership was very sensitive to the issues of lawlessness and (as a result) to engage youths and put into place programs in various sectors that deal with the youths to collaborate.
He assured the country that when connect PNG opens up, people moving in-and-out should not encroach onto other customary-cultured people.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister asked the acting Speaker to reserve a time for him to do a full response to the questions as they were fundamental questions.
Mr Lelang also commended the Prime Minister for admitting something that many of them are also observing with concerns and that is the economy is not creating new jobs.
“It is by recognizing a problem, then we can start to look for solutions,” he said.
On Thursday, we also heard from the Minister for Labour and Employment Kassy Sawang that we have an unemployment crisis in the country. “This requires a re-assessment of the current macroeconomic and sector strategies.”
He said the adverse impact of the Russia- Ukraine War, the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the closure of Porgera Mine and excessive domestic borrowing which crowded out the private sector and struggling businesses, have contributed to joblessness in the country today.
Mr Lelang told Parliament that another major contributor to this problem is the rural- urban migration that has been building up steadily over the last decade, with people moving into towns and cities looking for a better life but with very little skills.
He said the settlements are over-crowded, there is a rise in homelessness, with families living in drains, behind shops and supermarkets at Boroko, for instance.
“The number of street beggars and street children are on the rise, and are not in school.
Many resort to stealing and prostitution and a life of crime just to survive because the wantok system is no longer effective as a social safety net,” Lelang said.
“They cannot return back to their villages or provinces.“Some of those that migrate into towns are trouble-makers and criminals who escape arrest and community reprisals.”
“When you have this mixed bag of people migrating into towns and cities, social tensions and law-and-order problems are prone to escalate.”
He said those that migrate into towns do not respect the cultural values, customs and way of life of the local people, the traditional owners of the land on which the town and cities are located or where the road corridors passes through.
“Land grabbing, social tensions, fighting and murders have also escalated in the recent past. Social tensions are still there.”
