Manam Islander murdered in Bogia

MADANG police has reported that a young man from Manam Island was brutally attacked and murdered by Bogia mainlanders as he was going out to look for food.
Madang police commander Supt Anthony Wagambie Jr said on Tuesday a Manam Islander living at the Asarumba Care Centre was murdered by the local Kalolat villagers as he was going out looking for coconut and food near the village.
The mainlanders and the islanders living in the care centre along the Bogia main have been in an ongoing tribal conflict over the years after the islanders were temporarily settled in care centres on the mainland following the volcano eruptions in 2004.
It has taken almost six years for the government to permanently resettle the islanders on the mainland and since then nothing has eventuated.
In April another man was killed and several houses were burnt down by the islanders when they retaliated over the attack of one of their people.
Wagambie said the youth was attacked by the local villagers, who were guarding their area, by repeatedly beating him with sticks, stones and knives.
He said the victim died from loss of blood from the injuries sustained.
Wagambie said the Bogia police was alerted and went to the area and prevented the situation from going out of hand.
However, he said according to police reports, local nurses at the Asarumba Care Centre were unable to do a medical report as the body was in a bad condition after the murder and had to be buried immediately.
Meanwhile, he said Bogia police were carrying out investigations into the killing but confirmed that the killing was directly linked to the ongoing conflict between the two ethnic groups.
Wagambie has appealed to the Manam leaders to advise their people not to venture out into the local peoples’ land and gardens while at the same time appealing to the local Bogia people to exercise restraint.
“I also appeal to the authorities to continue to work on a solution on this, because police cannot be present between the two groups at all times. Funding for police operations and presence has been cut and there is bound to be more confrontations, wounding and killings,” he said.