Cop wants law on bushknives

A RURAL police station commander in East Sepik has called on the national government to enact laws to regulate the sale of bush knives in light of increasing cases of knife attacks and deaths.
Sausse rural police station commander David Bandi said one-metre bush knives should now be categorised as offensive weapons as they could be used to kill like any firearm.
“The government must now have laws in place to stop all shops from selling bush knives to anyone on the street or those in the village who do not have a genuine reason to buy knives,” Bandi said.
“There must be a law created to sell bush knives only to people who have been certified by their ward members and police so that knives do not fall on the hands of those who have no respect for human lives.
“We are now seeing a lot of people injured  and deaths caused by bush knives everywhere because 90% of our young people who float around in town or in the communities are armed with bush knives.”
He said the courts should be given powers to impose hefty fines under the Criminal Code Act as a deterrent against knife-related offences.
All health facilities, including the Wewak General Hospital, admitted they were treating many knife wounds each day but director of medical services Dr Lincoln Menda could not be reached for comment yesterday , as he had yet to return from the recent Medical Symposium in Port
Moresby.