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Editorial, Normal
Source:

The National, Wednesday 5th June 2013

 IT’S back! Tonight, rugby league followers will be glued to TV screens. The performance level for some staff members will be high today as they race through their work ahead of the 7.30pm kickoff. 

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BLUES and Maroons passions will run high tonight with the ebb and flow of the game. We hope not to report any casualties tomorrow.

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YOU are stopped at a police roadblock after dinner. Your road tax is valid but your safety sticker has supposedly expired. What would be the worst scenario? A summons or a spot fine? We suggested to the well-dressed policeman the he issue us with a summons but he said (softly) that “the normal procedure is to arrest you”. 

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QUITE bemused but concerned nonetheless, we insisted that the sticker was valid for a few more months and that he check it again. He did and admitted that we were correct. Does an expired safety sticker warrant an arrest? The question was posed to a police public relations officer but no response was received. We consider the policeman’s claim (to arrest) as not only ridiculous but more likely to be an invitation for an immediate “solution”.

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HOW do law enforcement agencies expect the public to adhere to traffic rules when some of them do the opposite? The police officer driving a blue 10-seater yesterday morning drove out from Gannet Street, forced his way across Waigani Drive, drove over the traffic island and drove back towards the university. 

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AND then as if to thumb his nose at the common man, he turned back and took a short cut, driving  on the footpath to jump the queue patiently waiting at the Waigani traffic light.  Maybe all drivers should do the same and see how the police deal with it.

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SOME clarification needed from NCDC on the duty statement for employees of the newly-established waste company. Is this company responsible for collecting spot fines or collecting waste around the city?

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IT is over three months now and we wonder what progress has been made on the National Road Safety Council’s proposal to bring in modern technology to improve enforcement of road safety.

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AND another reminder to women that cervical cancer is preventable. And that is why a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience, Sr Helen Hukula, has opened the Women Health Care Awareness Clinic located at Waigani (behind Anglicare). 

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HUKULA can be contacted on 340 6037; 7347 6146 or via [email protected]  for pap smear and blood sugar tests, family planning, blood pressure checks, breast checks and weight checks.

[email protected]