MP demands bomb report – The National

**A villager with a discarded casing of a bomb used to destroy houses in Ijivitari, Northern. – Pictured supplied**

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
NORTHERN Governor Gary Juffa has demanded from police a report on a clash between villagers which allegedly involved the use of World War II bombs and high powered weapons.
Juffa said yesterday that there were reports about leftover bombs being used to demolish homes of Eroro villagers in the Oro Bay local level government (LLG) of Ijivitari about two weeks ago.
“I have demanded from police a report as it seems that they want to cover up the incident,” he said.
The National also contacted Northern police commander Chief Insp Daniel Yangen last week for a report on the incident and has not received a response.
Meanwhile, sources said that about eight houses were burned to the ground and six other houses destroyed leaving families homeless in an attack on three villages of Koroto, Bende and Jarida.
“For security reasons, government authorities that include police and politicians from the province and others have turned a blind eye to the situation and the plight of the people that are left homeless and living in makeshift shelters,” the source said.
The source said the attack happened after the youths from Eroro tried to settle a long standing argument with the neighbouring tribe from Sauga by holding up a passenger bus from that village.
In retaliation, the Sauga tribesmen armed with high-powered guns, bombs and other weapons, raided the three villages.
“They caused a lot of destruction, leaving families homeless.”
The sources said the use of bombs to demolish simple bush material hamlets was a serious security issue and yet nothing has been done about it.
“This is not the first time leftover bombs have been used in the province to cause destruction,” he said.
“Communities in Eroro are living in fear as a result.
“They want the police and PNG Defence Force to investigate the use of bombs and high-powered guns to settle disputes.”
Northern was the site of fierce fighting between Australian troops and some Americans against Japanese forces during WWII.
As a result, the province still has remnants of military ordnance including bombs and bullets strewn across Northern’s two districts.