Leader wants police presence

A POLICE station needs to be built in the Salamaua Local Level Government (LLG) in the Huon Gulf district of Morobe to address the increase in lawlessness in the area, says law and order chairman Nayaba Dei.
Dei made this plea to LLG president Philemon Tomala and Morobe Governor Kelly Naru yesterday in Lae when they purchased a dinghy to assist law and order officials in Salamaua.
Dei said Salamaua was a big area and people were taking advantage of the lack of police presence to commit crimes.
“Salamaua LLG is near Lae so the kinds of things done in the settlements in Lae are adopted by the children of Salamaua,” Dei said.
“So our priority is a police station and police presence.
“When tourists come to the area there is security because police will be already on the ground.
“We at the village court level are just concerned with resolving small matters and bringing peace and harmony into the community.
“To resolve bigger criminal cases and to use firearms we at the village court level do not have any power.
Although, Dei could not provide an updated statistic of the number of criminal cases in the area, he said the Black Cat incident a few years back where local potters were killed and tourists robbed showed that criminal activities were increasing.
He said a proper police base, communication equipment, police presence and transportation would ensure criminal activities were prevented from happening.
Tomala agreed with Dei that police needed to be stationed in all the districts and LLGs of Morobe including Salamaua.