By ELIZABETH VUVU
NEW Guinea Islands divisional commander, Francis Tokura has urged the West New Britain government to restore the peace and good order committee to address escalating law and order problems in the province.
Mr Tokura who is the Assistant Police Commissioner, along with Mr Geoffrey Vaki were in the province recently to give full support to the provincial police commander Chief Insp Richard Mulo in addressing dispute among ethnic clans at Section 10 at the Kimbe Settlement, Section 15 in the Talasea area, Leleki and Gigo settlement areas.
Mr Tokura said the provincial peace and good order Committee has not been operating for some years and reviving its operations would help address law and order in that has allegedly got out on hand in the form of ethnic clashes.
Upon visiting the province early this year Mr Baki described it as a small Papua New Guinea comprising of numerous ethnic groups.
ACP Tokura said the problem was that leaders in these settlements in Kimbe knew those youths who were causing trouble, resulting in ethnic clashes, but were not doing enough to resolve the issues.
He referred to the recent clash between Talasea and Kimbe settlers.
The trouble began after a councillor and a student from Talasea were allegedly attacked and robbed by some youths from Section 10 settlement as they were returning from a shop.
The Talasea people, in retaliated, by destroying properties at Section 10 and an 11-man mobile squad team from Kokopo had to be deployed to control the situation.
ACP Tokura said during the meeting last week, it was very encouraging to see that after discussions with police personal, people took ownership of the problems they created.
He said people from the Section 15 settlement in Talasea, mobilised and cut grass in their areas and confiscated homebrew materials and drugs.
Chief Insp Mulo is understood to have made a commitment to reconvene the Committee, a unit under the provincial government in which he will be chairman.