Assaults soar in Kimbe

THE township of Kimbe in West New Britain province has seen an alarming increase in the number of assaults in the last three months which is causing problems amongst the communities.
This has prompted police to step up operations that will target “havens” or “hideouts” for people involved in a wide range of illegal activities.
Provincial police commander, Chief InsRichard Mulou said yesterday that they had revisited their operation plans for the last festive season and the recent NEC meeting had targeted trouble spots known to be directly linked to the current law and order situation in Kimbe.
“Lately, we have seen an increase in complaints of general assaults, grievous bodily harm, wilful damage to properties and cases of pickpockets reported to police directly linked to consumption of homebrew, alcohol purchased from black market outlets and drugs especially marijuana,” he said.
Mr Mulou said the perception that only unemployed youths were involved in these activities was misleading as some of these cases involved a high number of people on fulltime employment as well as a good number of teenage school students.
“It appears that since the provincial Liquor Licensing Board crackdown on all the bottle shops in Kimbe town, people are now resorting to the black market trade and homebrew substances to meet current demands.”