No more roadblocks
MORE than 65,000 people living along the Mendi town to Nipa Highway have come to an agreement not to set up road blocks, rape and kill people along the road.
This agreement was made last Wednesday at the Nipa station after the people from Poroma and Nipa in the Nipa-Kutubu district of the Southern Highlands province were presented with a new 10 seater Toyota Landcruiser and 108 pigs as compensation by the Webso tribe for the death of one of their tribesmen who was killed last November at the Nipa station by police.
The Poroma and Nipa people retaliated by blocking the road and attacked people from Tari and the general public travelling on the road since last year.
During the compensation, leaders along the highway pledged to refrain from setting up road blocks and terrorising the travelling public.
A peace committee told The National in Mt Hagen yesterday that the road from Mendi to Tari was now safe for the public to travel freely without fear.

WNB to evaluate teachers’ appointment
WEST New Britain’s education division has been illegally making appointments and decisions for the province for the past six years, its new provincial education adviser has revealed.
Ken Baur said that the division did not have a proper provincial education board since 2002.
Therefore, he said, the appointment of teachers, selection of Grade 9 students and other matters approved by the division were illegal.
He said he resolved the situation after taking office early this month.
“The provincial executive council headed by Governor Peter Humphries met last Wednesday and endorsed a new board,” he told The National.
Mr Baur said the education division would also review the appointment of teachers made without the approval of the Teachers Service Commission and to ensure that procedures were followed.

Remandeejailed for escaping
A REMANDEE, facing murder and other charges, was sentenced to six months’ jail by the Mt Hagen District Court yesterday for escaping from Baisu.
Robert Unan Ison, 39, from Surinki in Enga, escaped from the prison with 29 other remandees last Sept 22.
He was awaiting trial for murder, armed robbery and rape.
He was chased by his enemies outside Mt Hagen city last week but saw a police vehicle and jumped into it.
The policemen recognised him immediately and took him straight to the police station where he was locked up.
Enga police commander Supt Michael Chare said that Ison was believed to have led a gang which allegedly robbed people travelling between Wabag town and Porgera.

On-spot fines queried
COMMUNITY and reserve police in Enga have been accused of collecting payment from travellers during the past festive season.
A PMV operator, who asked for anonymity, said he was stopped several times along the highway by police personnel from the Yaibos station in Wapenamanda district for alleged overloading and other minor offences.
He claimed he was forced to pay “fines” and was never issued a receipt for the money paid to the police.