TWO matters of interest this morning; the first concerns the on-going problems with gaol accommodation on Manus.
Lorengau police station cells are reportedly undergoing major renovations and more than 40 prisoners are reportedly fending for themselves.
In the meantime, the local Correctional Services officers have allegedly failed to supply food or minimal supervision to prisoners who are presumably under their control.
Meanwhile, Manus administrator Wep Kanawi is urging all involved to work together to refurbish the existing gaol, at present under a court closure order handed down by a National Court judge.
There is a difficulty now in activating some K20,000 of funds to maintain the gaol; Mr Kanawi will ultimately seek reversal of the order once the court is satisfied that the gaol has become fit for occupancy.
The two sets of issues – the non-availability of food for 40 prisoners and the question of rehabilitating the gaol – are separate but connected.
The situation on Manus mirrors the problems faced at gaols throughout the country.
Its obvious that some officers and men in the Corrective Service have given up attending to their duties as required.
Far too many prisoners simply trot out of gaol when the mood takes them; that familiar weapon of countless detective and crime stories, the hacksaw, appears to be on regulation issue to prisoners throughout PNG.
We do not doubt the abilities and dedication of Commissioner Richard Sikani and his top echelon of men, but the open door policy of too many of our gaols is there for all to see.
The National has been pleased to give space to stories showing how determined gaol commanders have initiated on-site agriculture to supply the inmates with healthy foods.
Yet stories alleging starving prisoners emerge with monotonous regularity.
Mr Kanawi claims that food ration shortages on Manus are due to “poor management of local resources belonging to the CS officers”.
Or is this just another example of that old disease – distance from headquarters?
Those who have worked in remote locations or in provinces far removed from Waigani, will be only too familiar with the problem of trying to get any movement from the bureaucratic buffaloes mired in their air conditioned offices.
Perhaps there is another solution for Manus.
Last week, Radio Australia carried a news item confirming that Australia has no further use for the extensive asylum seeker facilities built on Manus as part of the iniquitous “Pacific solution” preferred by former Australian PM John Howard.
Could this unwanted facility now be put to use by the Manus government to solve the provincial gaol problem once and for all?
It may well be that Mr Kanawi, known for his innovation and energy when faced with problems, has already investigated that possibility.
If so, we are sure the public would be interested in the outcome.
And on another matter…
The National yesterday carried an item telling of the unexpected early release by China of a Hong Kong journalist jailed for five years on spying charges.
The journalist Ching Cheong was released less than half way into his prison sentence; he had been accused of buying information in China and sending it to Taiwan, a charge strenuously denied by Ching and his employer, the prestigious Singapore-based Straits Times.
His release generated widespread relief among his colleagues and approval from leaders in many countries around the world.
But directly under that story was another headed Dissident writer given four years.
This told of a Chinese democracy activist noted for his attacks against corruption, and the decision to imprison him for four years on “subversion” charges.
It is difficult to understand the Chinese approach to dissent beyond noting that it is absolute.
Any criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, the country’s only legal political grouping, will almost always lead to a stiff prison sentence.
The brutal courtroom attitude on display in this particular case must indeed distress all who support the right of freedom of speech, a right that forms an integral part of our own nation.
We hope that the PNG Government loses no opportunity in expressing its strongest disapproval of such human rights travesties to the Chinese embassy.