Address law and order issues, says Ipatas

ENGA Governor Sir Peter Ipatas has suggested to Prime Minister James Marape to bring in foreign help to address law and order issues in the country.
“There’s no shame in asking for help,” he said.
“The Solomon Islands did. Even Australia did when they were having issues, and the police commissioner from England assisted them.
“So what is wrong with us asking for help?
“If they want immunity, give them immunity, because one thing is certain, we need to address this issue.”
Sir Peter said the Government must admit that the country had serious law and order problems.
“There’s too many red-flagged areas in the country, places that were once peaceful,” he said.
Sir Peter said increasing police manpower must be done with improving capacity.
“Instead of increasing manpower, we should start with building their capacity, giving them the resources they need and instilling control and discipline back in the constabulary before we recruit more men and women,” he said.
“Bring in outside help. Let’s fix this before it blows in our faces.”
He said if Marape did not want to bring in outside help, then he had to tell the nation what he and the Government were doing to address law and order issues.
“What is their alternative solution to fixing these problems?” he asked.
“Look at Fiji, for example, a Pacific country like us. Most of the country’s income comes from tourism. But we don’t get a lot of tourists here. Why?
“We have more to offer in tourism but we don’t get many tourists coming to our country.”
Ipatas said law and order issues were a hindrance to development and government services.