The ugly side of Papua New Guinean elections has shown its face in the Western Highlands capital Mt Hagen with unknown suspects sabotaging one of the busiest airports in the country to protest against the appointment of electoral officials.

Using the cover of darkness yesterday, the suspects poured oil on the Kagamuga International Airport tarmac to disrupt flights, prompting the provincial police commander to describe it as an “act of terrorism”.

Chief Superintendent Joe Puri said the incident showed what people were capable of when they were frustrated.

“However, it does not give anyone the right to hold the whole province to ransom,” he said.

“Three different factions of supporters of candidates are suspected of being involved in this latest sabotage of the airport.

“The persons responsible gained access through the back fence near the Mt Hagen golf course and got onto the tarmac where litres of engine oil was poured onto the tarmac.”

This started in protest over the appointment of the Hagen Open Returning Officer, with two factions contesting the appointment of the official in court.

Commercial flights cancelled
Commercial flights were cancelled yesterday following a protest over the electoral official’s appointment.

The protesting locals wanted Willie Ropa to be reinstated as Returning Officer for the Hagen Open electorate.

Ropa’s appointment was disputed in court by Hagen MP William Duma, who challenged the decision of the Electoral Commission in light of two conflicting gazette notices over the appointment of two ROs for Hagen — Ropa and Amos Noifa.

This incident and others in just three weeks of campaigning and nominations should not be taken lightly, as the instances will only grow if nothing is done quickly by the authorities.

Just over the weekend, the Returning Officer for Kompiam-Ambum Open, Enga Province, was shot and had to be hospitalised.

Last week, the convoy of a sitting Member of Parliament (Okapa MP Saki Soloma) was stopped and attacked leading to several vehicles being torched and destroyed.

At the same time, former Nipa-Kutubu MP and now a candidate for Southern Highlands Provincial, Philemon Embel also narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on his life when his vehicle was shot at in the province.

While these incidents have taken place mainly in the Highlands region, it is no secret the syndrome of violence can quickly spread to other centres in the country.

Last month Police Commissioner David Manning called on the nation to help deliver a free, fair and safe election. Police are now maintaining a 24 hour presence around the airport.

Thierry Lepani and Miriam Zarriga are PNG Post-Courier reporters. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s policemen and women around the country have been ordered to arrest and charge anyone in possession of illegal firearms — which carries life imprisonment under the amended law — from the May 19 deadline.

Police Commissioner David Manning, who is also the Registrar of Firearms, said that the directives were now being enforced.

Manning is urging all police officers around the country to enforce the law and implement the Firearms Amendment Act 2022 that was tabled and supported by all members of the 10th National Parliament recently.

“I gave a two-week amnesty period for people to come forward and surrender their firearms to the nearest police station,” he said.

“I am now appealing to anyone who has any information about the existence of any such illegal firearms to please come forward and assist your police force to remove these individuals and firearms from our communities.”

Papua New Guinea faces a general election starting in late July and security is an issue.

Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinean police have made a startling revelation that firearms for the National Elections security operations in June have yet to be purchased.

Deputy Police Commissioner Anton Billie says the firearms might not be procured and received by the time the election writs are issued on April 28 when nominations and campaigns start in earnest.

“We haven’t purchased anything yet. I’ve been told that they are doing it (police procurement team) but they need time,” Billie said yesterday.

He said the normal process for procurement of ammunition and guns could take about six to eight months to organise because important procurement protocols that needed to be followed.

Billie believes, however, police will manage with the currently available stock until the new procurement arrives.

A senior employee of the Police Department, who requested anonymity, said there were strict procurement protocols in place. However, due to the urgency the police procurement team had come up with measures to bypass some of these procedures.

The source said this situation would not have come about had the funds for the purchase of the firearms been released in November or December last year.

Funding needed last year
“We were supposed to get the funding last year but because we got it this year in February, the funding delayed everything,” he said.

“It normally takes a long time to procure.

“To get the procurement for those major expenditures, like uniforms and guns and ammunitions, we don’t have the time to do that procurement.”

The issue is further complicated because the procurement committee has not approved the police procurement orders.

Items yet to be purchased include guns, ammunitions, and uniforms.

The three-week election is due to begin a week early on June 18.

Claudia Tally is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz