City schools suspend classes

SCHOOLS in Port Moresby suspended classes yesterday morning following a citywide outbreak of street fighting sparked by disgruntled supporters of General Election 2022 (GE22) candidates over the counting of ballots.
“After watching a few video clips on social media (Facebook) on the street fighting featuring bush-wielding assailants in the city, we have directed school principals and head teachers in the vicinity of the city to suspend classes and send school girls and boys home,” National Capital District (NCD) education assistant secretary Sam Lora told The National.
He said the safety of the students was paramount so “we have advised school administrations to assess the situation closely and carefully before releasing the students home”.
“We have been monitoring live updates on social media and also keep up with the news to assess the situation to help us reach a decision on the next step to take from today on.
“Whether we will suspend classes altogether for the week or continue would depend on our assessment on the current situation in the city and also reports from the police on public security,” Lora added.
He said from the videos posted on social media, the situation in the city did not look alright for school students and the public to move around freely.
“We are also talking to NCD police to help us decide whether schools should be suspended for the whole week,” he added.
Lora said the suspension of classes would only apply to affected schools and not those outside the vicinity of the capital city.
Education secretary Dr Uke Kombra said it was unfortunate that schools in NCD had suspended classes due to street fights between the political rivals.
“The suspension is for the safety of teachers and students,” Kombra said.
“It is wiser for our students and teachers to remain at home until we get clearance from the police.”
He said he was waiting for advice from the police before issuing a formal instruction to schools.
Kombra said for the lessons that would be missed for a day or weeks, teachers had to adjust and cover up for the missed classes.
Gordon Secondary School principal George Kenega said a few students turned up for class yesterday and had to be sent home early.
“We did not receive any instruction from the provincial education division whether to suspend classes for the week but we will see how things turn up tomorrow (today),” he added.
Meanwhile, University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) has also suspended classes due to the violence in the city, Vice-Chancellor Professor Frank Griffin said.
“Given the unpredictable nature of the situation and the need to protect the lives of students and staff, an emergency situation has arisen.” He urged students to stay in campus until normalcy was restored.

ACP asks people to respect election laws

NORTHERN Command’s assistant commissioner of Police Peter Guinness has asked the people of Madang to respect the election laws and allow counting to take place without any further delay.
He was responding to the arrest of eight people in Usino two weeks ago for being in possession of unlicensed guns and ammunition.
The eight are alleged to be the supporters of a candidate. ACP Guinness said the eight were released on a K500 bail each.
It has led to some suggesting that the Usino-Bundi Open seat counting be moved to Madang town.
The counting began yesterday at the Walium station,
Madang Police Commander Acting Superintendent Mazuc Rubiang said Walium was manned by 30 policemen assisted by a section of the Mobile Squad.
All access into the counting area have been blocked off with close monitoring of people movement.
Meanwhile, ACP Guiness dismissed allegations that corruption and bribery were involved.
“Everyone is entitled to bail unless it is an indictable offence,” he said.
“Madang’s court process is slow due to the election. We cannot be filling up our cells.
“When they appear before the court and if they plead guilty, they will be penalised under the new Firearms Act.”
According to the arresting officer Constable Philip Yallon, the eight were caught by soldiers near a polling are at Pori in Usino.
They had in their possession two guns plus three 12-gauge live rounds, bullets and three discharged empty shells.