Compensation payment to victim eases tension, averts clash

TENSIONS were calmed and a clash was perhaps averted in Morata, Port Moresby, when community leaders urged an assailant to compensate his victim.
A man who sustained a serious facial injury from a punch, was paid K1,300 by his assailant, and residents who witnessed the ceremony shook hands and shared betel nuts and soft drinks.
National Capital District/Central command staff officer Sr Insp David Terry, who witnessed the peace mediation, encouraged young people living in settlements to respect their neighbours and the rights of women and children.
Sr Insp Terry encouraged residents to sort out law and order issues at the community level in a peaceful manner.
He said minor resolvable arguments often escalated into big fights because communities failed to mediate peace from the start.
Sr Insp Terry said if residents took ownership of the law and order issues at the community level, police would concentrate more on fighting crime, and communities would become safer and more secure.