Bumbu settlers call for stop to hostilities

TWO communities of settlers from East Sepik at Bumbu settlement in Lae on Tuesday have called for a stop to hostilities and asked for peace and normalcy to return to their area.
The communities of Gegerobi, Korogu and Angriman said publically before representatives from the police, defence force, Morobe government, Ombudsman Commission and other stakeholders that they were laying down their arms and wanted peace.
The reconciliation process started last Tuesday when an open forum was staged with communities following the fight that took almost a year which had claimed lives, seen properties destroyed and families displaced.
The Biwat community also expressed their interest to negotiate for peace and met with the law and order peace negotiation team to give their views yesterday.
A longtime resident of Angriman compound, Tunis Ben, said since the fight began, women and children as well as the elderly had been denied access to essential services like schools, markets and health care.
“Most of us, the womenfolk in these communities became victims.
“We could not move around freely and now we have come up with the idea of a ceasefire, we support it and want all parties involved in the fight to lay down their weapons and let us all negotiate for lasting peace,” she said.
Ben asked youths of the three warring ethnic groups from East Sepik to respect the rule of law and come together and agree on a peaceful solution.
Gegerobi representative and community leader James Kinjin said lives had been affected from all factions involved in the fight.
“We were all innocent. One or two people started the fight because of their own differences and this led to a bigger fight that took place over a longer period affecting everyone from both sides,” he said.
Kinjin said the youths in his settlement proclaimed publicly that they did not want to fight and wanted peace to happen between their brothers from the opposing side.
Law and order chairman and head of the reconciliation and peace negotiation team Michael Daure told the four different communities that it would be through their own efforts that peace could return.
“If you want peace and normalcy to return then it is up to you to make an effort to ensure peace returns,” Daure said.
He added that his team would work closely with the provincial government and the police to ensure the fighting stopped.