Kavieng opens new cell block

KAVIENG has a new police cell block that was opened on Friday.
New Ireland police commander Supt Albert Beli told The National yesterday that the project cost K700,000, and was funded by district development authorities of Kavieng and Namatanai as well as the provincial government.
Beli said the two district authorities contributed K300,000 each while the provincial government assisted with K100,000 under the districts and provincial services improvement programmes (DSIPs and PSIP).
A Chinese construction company was engaged to build the cell block, which took almost three months.
Its opening was a Christmas gift to New Ireland police.
Beli said with the new cell block in place, police would step up on their arrests, especially for petty crimes.
“There is now enough room to accommodate all detainees, instead of moving the serious cases to Lakurumau.”
He said the new facility would reduce transport costs, timing and other related issues when moving the detainees.
The new cell block comprised four rooms for the female, juvenile and male detainees and also separate shower and toilet facilities for each of the three groups, besides a kitchen.