Buses protest assault of crewman

 WEWAK town was chaotic last Friday when urban PMV buse drivers  stopped work to protest an assault by police on a crew member the previous day.

Hundreds of people were stranded at bus stops while others had to walk to work and town.

The buses, however returned to work later in the day after operators met with police and provincial administration officials to iron out the problem.

It was claimed that a crew member was assaulted by police for obstructing traffic by collecting passengers at a non-designated bus stop.

Traffic police head Chief Sgt James Japele said: “If there was something wrong, they should have followed procedures in bringing up the complaint and not holding the entire population at ransom.”

He said there was a public complaints office at the police station and any matters against police conduct should be channelled to the office for investigation and prosecution.

“As usual, no one including police is above the law but in this situation commonsense must prevail because buses are picking passengers on non-designated bus stop causing inconvenience to the public and motorists.

“The area from Max Manimbi bookshop to Wewak town market is not a bus stop. There is a bus stop for PMVs outside Ela Motors on the east,” Japele said.

He said an operation on vehicle roadworthy checks to prepare for the festive season had began.