Indonesia repatriated 80 citizens

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
INDONESIA has to date repatriated more than 80 Papua New Guineans for illegally entering the country since the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak in March last year, Papua New Guinea (PNG) consul-general Geoffrey Wiri says.
“Papua New Guinea citizens were caught for illegal entry since the border closed a year ago during the first wave of the Covid-19,” he said.
“They were all declared negative for the Covid-19 after their release from quarantine centres in Jayapura, Papua (Indonesia) and Vanimo in West Sepik.
“There has been no evidence of them spreading the Covid-19 in West Sepik and PNG.
“At this stage, the dangerous B117 Covid-19 (variant) strain had not surfaced in both Papua West and Papua province.
“On the positive side, the Covid-19 situation in Papua province and Jayapura city in particular had greatly improved and the mayor of Jayapura may very soon declare the city to be green (Covid-19 free).
“The successful reduction of the Covid-19 cases is due to very strict policing of the pandemic protocols.”
Meanwhile, Wiri said that between March and this month, “we had eight PNG citizens caught with more than 20 bags of betel nuts and one ton of vanilla”.
“The four betel nut sellers caught at the Log Point in Skouw border area were deported and are now in Vanimo, West Sepik.
“The vanilla sellers will be deported tomorrow together with a PNG woman who graduated from a university in Makassar in Sulawesi.
“She arrived in Jayapura to return to West Sepik but she overstayed her visa by 12 days.”
Wiri also said that “certain West Sepik government officers and businessman had been travelling to Jayapura with ease this month for trade and other social activities in Jayapura which the authorities were kept in the dark or the lack of adequate surveillance.