The recent action by the Honiara City Council on the Kukum betel nut vendor's stalls was indeed deplorable. In essence, it was an obvious and absolute symbolic act of repression. Certainly, the prospect of the Kukum market closure is part of the HCC's ambition to discourage betel nut culture as they possibly could from the city. Furthermore, I understand some of the reasons why the HCC is not keen in accommodating major betel nut selling venues such as Kukum in the city. A great deal of optimism for low crime rate, less health risks, a better looking Honiara suburbia, and other social issues that perhaps related to such trading sites are some of the justifications for the City Council's ambitions against betel nut markets. I suppose anybody would agree that some of those reasons are genuine. But I tend to hold the view that our authorities have really failed to deliver appropriate services to address some of those issues and did not deal with them quite properly. It seems that the closure of those markets is shielding the City Council and the government's crime crackdown services against their failures to address those issues.