Madang yet to effect 476 arrests

THERE are 476 outstanding bench warrants in Madang – the oldest issued by the court in 1987, according to the national court listing.
And police have blamed the lack of resources and manpower for the problem.
According to the listing, the 476 bench warrant matters remain outstanding after the last week’s court circuit visit by Justice John Kawi.
The 1987 warrant was to be served on a Nelson Yalep Kiko from Wi village in Kutubu, Southern Highlands.
He was charged with breaking, entering and stealing. To date, police had not arrested him.
According to the National Court listing, the same number of bench warrants was re-issued between 2001 and 2003.
When asked to explain the backlog, police station commander Steven Kaipa said many of the offenders were from outside the province. And those in the province lived in remote areas, he said.
“Some are from remote villages such as Teptep, Aiom, Bundi, Bugati and others you can see on the listing,’’ he said.
“Some have absconded bail and with the limited police resources such as fuel and manpower, we are understaffed.”
The staff ceiling of police officers in Madang is around 300, plus 22 detectives and 11 prosecutors. Only one officer looks after the warrants and summons.
A source who did not want to be named said there were police detectives based in the six districts.
“Cases concerning their area are sent to them but for some reason the complainants always end up bringing their complaints back to town.
“This is also the same for bench warrants. The warrants all seem to end up with police in Madang town and it then becomes their responsibility.
“Karkar has a lot of pending arrests similar to other districts,” he said.
A district court judge, who asked not to be named, said the problem in Madang was not normal.
“The National Court listing for bench warrants should not exceed 100.
“The police are definitely not doing their jobs. They should get the informants to do the follow-up for them and with the aid of mobile phones arrests should be done thereafter,” the judge said.
The situation in Madang was compounded by the fact that most of the police vehicles needed urgent repairs or were beyond repair.