Madang govt wants to support police stop crime

THE Madang government will support police to curb crime and not be involved in addressing law and order issues, Governor Peter Yama says.
Yama told The National regarding an incident in which a man was shot allegedly by police in Madang at the weekend: “I will not tell the policemen what to do but will provide logistical and manpower support for them to do their job.”
He said the incident in Newtown was not linked to the Andersons Foodland robbery and police were in full control of it.
“These sorts of petty crimes are happening because of the economic issues in Madang and the influx of people coming in from all over the province and neighbouring Morobe and Highlands regions,” Yama said.
“The issue can be handled by police as part of their normal day to day jobs and be able to apprehend the suspects.
“Those people involved in such petty crimes are known to police so we will let them do their job.”
Yama said it was a police matter and he didn’t want to be seen to be involved.
“I’d rather let them do their jobs because they are trained for that, I only give them my logistics and manpower support that’s what the Madang provincial government is doing.
“It’s not necessary to call for a bigger enforcement into Madang,” Yama said.
“We only appreciate the additional security manpower when criminal activities are very dangerous that it warrants a mobile squad.”