Firstly, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones as a result of this situation. It is always a tragedy when such young lives are lost under any circumstance.
Secondly, I thank all the citizens and netizens of Oro and PNG for raising their concerns on social and mainstream media, be they useful or otherwise.
Thirdly, I thank all community leaders involved in actively finding a peaceful resolution to this issue and cooperating with the authorities including my office.
I was in Port Moresby after parliament awaiting the Administration to travel over so we could hand over Provincial acquittals to the Office of Rural Development. I also had several meetings with various Departments regarding various issues concerning the Province.
Meanwhile, Popondetta Town had almost come to a standstill after two groups engaged in conflict over recent instances of violence which led to the deaths of two young men. The deceased are from Oro and one from Eastern Highlands. I will not go into details as the issue will be investigated and become subject to court deliberation and I do not wish to in any way be seen as influencing the course of justice.
I shall therefore be brief and focus on what facts I am familiar with after having met the PPC and the two conflicting groups and detail what the Provincial Government has done and intends to do to
1) Restore peace
2) Review the incident and identify underlying root causes and
3) Find immediate, medium and long-term workable solutions
Background
=========
The current situation arose from events that occurred on the 4th February 2019 whereby a band of three criminals held up a bus and as they drove off, they crashed the bus not far from the scene of the crime and fled on foot. It so happened this was within the area where the bus owners lived in a nearby settlement and several members of the settlement are alleged to have chased the criminals. They managed to apprehend one of the suspects and allegedly murdered him and threw his body into the nearby river. The deceased persons relatives and friends took offence and questioned the manner in which the deceased had been brutally killed as they believe he had given himself up and should have been handed to the Police. Police attempted to contain the situation and called for calm and asked community leaders of both groups to hand over suspects involved in the robbery and the murder.
Police are severely understaffed with some members patrolling the Milne Bay Oro border due to intelligence of a spill over from the criminal activities in Milne Bay and a few suspended for various disciplinary offences.
Meanwhile, the friends and relatives of the deceased held a unsanctioned protest march into town that same Friday where a confrontation arose and escalated into stone throwing and a rampage with destruction of property in the middle of town. This spilled over into the residential areas of the two groups which are living within close proximity and the fighting continued with firearms now being used and eventually several members of the settlement community were shot and wounded with one later dying from his wounds. Police were helpless to contain the situation given their limited numbers and capacity. Tension remained high over the weekend with both groups alert with rumors of retaliatory attacks and ongoing attacks against one another. There were gunshots and significant explosions from what appears to be World War 2 ordinance in various locations near the area where the two groups resided. Attempts by Police to calm the situation down was futile however the settlement community in particular Kainantu community identified three suspects involved in the alleged murder and handed them over to the Police. They are now remanded in custody. The second group is yet to handover their suspects.
Review
=======
I flew into Popondetta on Monday 11th February morning and met with Administrator, PPC and Member Maisere immediately at the State House. I received a complete update of the situation from the PPC and the Administrator. After the brief, it was agreed an urgent Law and Order Committee meeting be convened to consider measures needed to ensure that there were no additional instances to of violence and to restore normalcy to the town and to allow the community to return to day to day activities. It was also decided that the team comprising of myself as the team leader, PPC, Administrator and Hon. Richard Maisere would meet both parties and hear from them.
The Law and Order Committee meeting was convened at the PEC Building and several proposals were considered and agreed to in an effort to bring back normalcy to the township of Popondetta by the Committee which was chaired by the PPC. These agreed to actions would be proposed to the Provincial Executive Council where they would be endorsed and appropriate action taken by the Administration to act on the recommendations of the Law and Order Committee.
A brief review of the state of Policing was also conducted.
Results
=======
The Law and Order Committee met and recommended the following actions:
1) A curfew to be imposed for a period of two weeks commencing Wednesday 13th February 2019 within Popondetta Township with special provisions to be put in place by Police
2) Team of Police to be flown in to improve Police capacity and manpower and conduct investigations under the Command of PPC
3) Liquor Ban to be imposed
4) Main market to be closed for a two week period or further notice
5) Specific Access Roads to be sealed
6) Popondetta Bus Services will be halted temporarily
7) Street vending and informal sector to be halted until further notice
The team met with both parties and were given updates and concerns from both parties. The parties were organized by their community leaders who all presented valid claims and concerns to the team. Both parties were addressed by myself and Hon. Member Richard Maisere.
The review of the state of Policing in ORO found that there were serious capacity issues. For instance according to the PPC, there are a full staff ceiling of 365 however there were only 67 Police on strength and actually only 20 engaged on full time duties in the Urban areas. The fact that the province has not devolved into a crime zone is indicative of the youth of Oro’s significant change of mindset since 2012.
Findings
========
In regards to the Law and Order Committees meeting and recommendations, the PEC will convene a meeting today to act upon the Law and Order Committees Report.
The parties raised grave concern over the use of firearms and other weapons and threats whether real or perceived upon one another. Both parties felt that the threats were real enough to restrict them and their families from moving about and wanted normalcy returned and gave specific demands to the team. These will be considered.
Meanwhile the Kainantu Community handed to the Police three suspects believed to have been involved in the killed of the deceased youth who had been caught in the failed armed robbery.
The Kainantu community have also asked that the Urban Youth Community surrender their members who had shot and killed a young man from their community during the confrontation on Friday. This is yet to happen but efforts are being made to ensure that this happens. The team has urged that both communities maintain peace and refrain from inflammatory speech and behaviour and that both communities cooperate with the authorities.
It was also found that both communities had very critical views of how the Police handled this situation and claimed that the Police had simply not done enough to prevent the incidents from escalating. In regards to the Policing situation, despite it being a National Government function, the Police had hardly received any support from the National Government and all vehicles and other necessary equipment had been purchased by the Provincial Government and Open Members. Last term several projects for Police to improve housing and logistics were undertaken. This term significant efforts would be undertaken to build more houses and recruit more Police personal. There is also a proposal to increase Reserve Police with the idea being to engage young school leavers who would serve a probation period before further training to become permanent Police men and women. This would be funded by the Provincial Government and has already been approved by the PEC.
Recommendations
===============
Restore normalcy as a priority. This should be achieved within the next two weeks maximum.
Media awareness informing citizens of actions taken and restrictions to be imposed.
All persons involved in the murders be handed over if not already to the Police for law to take its full course.
All firearms and weapons be surrendered.
Police capacity and actions or lack thereof to be reviewed by the Provincial Government.
The Provincial Government conducting a review of this situation in and identify root causes and address immediately. Some of these issues stem from a growing resentment of constricting opportunities due to an influx of people into the Province who were not gainfully employed and who were causing problems, consumption of illicit alcohol and drugs and nuisance type behaviour by unemployed youth, land grabbing, illegal occupation of Government houses. An effort would be made to gather stakeholders and obtain all views, necessary information and conduct a review to advise the PEC as to what actions should be undertaken to prevent such instances of violence and destruction which leads to loss of lives, property and disruption to services to all citizens.
Conclusion
==============
This is a general statement and not specifically related to the incident. Oro is a peaceful Province and the people of Oro are a peaceful people. In recent times, Oro became place of lawlessness and violence. I can attribute this to poor leadership and management of the Province by leaders gone by.
In 2012 when we took office we worked hard to change the image of Oro. It was achieved in a relatively short time. Citizens of Oro all came together to work together to build a better Oro Province for themselves and their children. The violent crimes and broad daylight murders and assaults and robberies were significantly reduced. It was not easy achieving this and came about due to the team of all stakeholders. I commend my people for this.
This new Oro, peaceful and safe, created an atmosphere conducive for investment and business and as a result we have had an influx of visitors. Unfortunately, not all visitors arriving had good intentions. They were the minority as the greater number came to do business and contribute to Oro. Some came to settle and live and be Oro citizens. I am exceptionally proud of the genuine visitors who have take this bold step and many are indeed wonderful positive contributors to Oro. They came from all over PNG and some even from overseas nations.
But a few came with reckless disrespectful behavior and criminal intentions. They disrespected the people, the laws and the culture of Oro and went about their business in an abrasive manner that could only provoke anger and bitter retribution from the people of Oro. This has led to violent repercussions and conflicts between the citizens of Oro and the visitors with criminal intentions and attitudes.
A peaceful people, a people who are respectful and welcoming are NOT a weak people. That is a fact we must all appreciate wherever we go. Respect is a two way street. To get respect, you will need to give it. The lack of it creates problems for all parties and the innocent and most vulnerable are always the victims.
I won't tolerate those who come to Oro and disrespect our citizens who live here and work to build Oro. I will do all I can to protect the people who call Oro home and live here. We discourage anyone who comes with ulterior motives where ever you are from.
In so far as this incident is concerned, it is important that everyone work together and cooperate in restoring peace to ORO. It will definitely be brought about by respect, clear communication by leaders to their people and by an effort to understand the problems that gave rise to this situation and address them.
I urge all persons concerned especially those related to or somehow connected to either party to exercise maturity, respect for one another. I ask that you exercise restraint and common sense prevail and ask people to refrain from making statements and comments on mainstream media and social media that are inflammatory and provocative. It is important not to generalize and apportion blame to any specific ethnic group or people. This situation involves certain individuals and those who have committed crimes must be brought to justice.
Let us not victimize innocent persons and threaten their lives or property, lets instead work together all of us, to make Oro a safer, better place for all of us to live, strive and thrive.
Further updates will be made when and where necessary.
Gary Juffa
Governor
Northern Province
No comments:
Post a Comment