Morobe govt demands probe into killing of five

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday 10th November 2011

THE Morobe provincial government wants an official inquiry into the shooting dead of five people by police in the past week of violence.
The provincial executive committee meeting on Monday in Lae decided that the shooting, during the rioting by Morobeens against the Highlanders, were unnecessary.
According to resolutions drawn up:  “Police are reminded that the people are not fighting against them, and that the people are not their enemy. In fact they are all fighting for peace and harmony to prevail in Lae city and the province.”
It said the provincial government was satisfied that all shootings so far were by police, whether intentionally or inadvertently, and therefore should be investigated.
The Morobe government has also urged the national government to allocate more funding to police in Lae and the province to monitor the “fighting zone”.
It has also asked the government to re-introduce the Vagrancy Act and amend the Informal Sector Act as well as decentralise power to provincial governments to enforce and coordinate informal sector businesses.
The provincial administration will meet all the expenses of the people who died or were injured during the violence in the past week.
And the administration will also evict all new settlers on state land and  enforce a liquor ban for three months.
The decisions were reached at the Morobe provincial executive committee meeting (Sam Sewe) in Lae.
A committee under the chairmanship of Sala­maua LLG president and former premier Joshua Hagai will formulate immediate, medium and long term policies and remedies to address the concerns raised in the petition by Morobe youths last Friday.
The members include Manasseh Rainier, Daki Mao, Peter Namus, Bob Dadae, Thompson Molinguso and deputy administrator district services Patilias Gamato as executive officer.
Provincial administrator Kemas Tomala has been directed to find funds in 2011 – besides the K100, 000 from the 2011 provincial improvement programme fund –  to meet the expenses of the dead and injured.
Other funding would come from the provincial business arm Kum-Gie Holdings.  Gamato, as chairman, has been told to call a board of directors meeting to consider the sale of some properties.
Another decision reached during the PEC was the endorsement of the fighting zone as declared by the provincial law and order committee.
The Morobe government will support the special police operation during the “fighting zone” period.
The provincial government also wants police to conduct regular surveillance, and to charge youths involved in pick-pocketing, stealing, harassing and raping women and girls at bus stops in Eriku, Top Town and main market.
The meeting also agreed to engage lawyers to challenge the national government in court for failing in its constitutional obligation to provide adequate resources for police to maintain law and order in the country.