Four villages burnt, people scattered in Tewai-Siassi

By JIMMY KALEBE

FOUR villages in Morobe’s Tewai-Siassi have been burnt down with two completely razed and people scattered everywhere in prolonged fighting between villages in the area, says police.
Morobe police commander Chief Supt Jacob Singura said, fighting had ceased but the situation was tense. Without naming specific villages that took part in the fight and which villages were totally or partly torched, Singura said they were waiting for police to go in, investigate and negotiate for peace.
He also did not explain why the first police operation that was supposed to take place earlier last month in Sialum did not eventuate.
But he said he would be in talks with appropriate authorities from the province and the district to commission another police operation as people want it as soon as possible.
He said according to a lone policeman at Sialum, four primary schools in the LLG had been closed since the beginning of the fights early in the year.
“Most of the fighting is among young people,” he said.
Singura said the policeman said that people from two villages who did not want to take part in the fight have been taking refuge at Sialum police barracks for the last two months.
“We cannot delay the police operation. People have waited too long and scars from the fighting could re-ignite fresh fighting,” he said.