Bilateral partners ready to assist army

By TREVOR WAHUNE
Bilateral partners provide assistance in bridging capability gaps in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF), says the commanding officer of the First Pacific Island Regiment (1PIR) Lieut Col Boniface Aruma.
Speaking at a press conference in Port Moresby yesterday, Aruma said so far as manpower was concerned, the PNGDF has sufficient numbers to deliver security required for  the  2018  Apec meeting.
He added, however, that if there were aspects of security that were beyond the PNGDF’s capacity, it would call for its bilateral partners to assist.
Aruma said the army would not be receiving assistance from its partners not only for the Apec meeting but also in the long run.
He said so far, Australia had begun delivering search capacities.
“They sent their mentor team up as part of Exercise Pukpuk and they trained our field engineers.
“Before the Apec meeting, Aruma said we already have the capability and the men who are well trained for the meeting to run well.
“It is a milestone which Exercise Pukpuk has delivered to us.
“We have the required manpower already.
“All we need to do is finish off our last trainings from January next year to October.
“There is no requirement to bring in extra soldiers as of now.
“But where there is a capability gap or knowledge gap, we have our bilateral partners Australia and New Zealand to assist us so we go through our normal chain of protocol.
“We will bring them in and assist with further transfer of skills.”