Access into business houses in West Goroka has become inconvenient with Ludo gambling on smart phones getting rife in front of these shops.

There are around eight shops in a straight line on the west side of the Highlands Highway that runs through the Goroka township.

A separate access for customers driveway is in front of this line of shops. This access makes it convenient for the rural public motor vehicles to drive through and pick up their passengers who do their shopping from these stores and wait around there.

While there are many people seen in front of these shops, only few customers access the shops to look for their basic needs One of the shops’ senior staff, who requested not to be named, including the shop, said the Ludo gambling and selling of betelnuts and cigarettes at their shop fronts is blocking customer access.

“We are not seeing many customers that we used to see in our shops,’ he said. “Customers coming from rural districts buy more. “As you can see, there are not many customers inside this shop, but there are many people outside.

“They are also our customers but they are blocking the way for other customers when they play Ludo in front of the shops.” One of the security guards said the the police normally come around occassionally and disperse them.

“We tell them to stop this in front of the shops and take it elsewhere but they never listen,” the gaurd said. “When the boss is angry, he normally calls the police task force fox unit to come and chase them away. “They come back and continue when the police leave.”