Occupy new houses, cops told

By DAPHNE WANI
Police personnel and their families living at the Gordon single quarters in Port Moresby have been told to occupy the newly-built houses at the proposed barracks at Bomana.
The directive was given by Assistant Commissioner of Police and NCD-Central Commander Sylvester Kalaut and NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Benjamin Turi after the main gate to the barracks was blocked off by frustrated families over their poor living conditions. The gate was barricaded at 4am yesterday but cleared at 10am after they  received a favourable response from Kalaut.
Kalaut told the families to occupy the new houses and wait for the department to sort outstanding payments with the construction company as some houses were vandalised by settlers.
Turi also told officers that houses would be given to each officer according to their seniority and those with proper marriage documents.
The families put up a barricade yesterday and raised concerns about their living conditions after a fire sparked off from a faulty electrical circuit in one of the rooms nearly burnt down one of the buildings at around 8pm last Friday. A five-year old boy was sleeping alone in a room when the fire broke out.
A police spokesperson told The National that they were servants of the state and they should not be allowed to continue to live in condemned rooms.
The 180-room Gordon accommodation was considered unfit for human habitation on Nov 21 last year by NCDC health inspectors.
Police Commissioner Gari Baki later said it would be demolished and had no plans to repair the barracks.
Kalaut told frustrated families after they had barricaded the barracks gate since 4am, stopping police vehicles from re-fueling at the police fuel pump.
“Since the general election is approaching, the policemen cannot sit back and watch their families suffer like this,” Kalaut said.
“The  same houses built for these families are now being vandalised by settlers living around Bomana and 9-Mile.
“We have a number of families living here in unhealthy conditions which are unsuitable for humans.”
Kalaut told the families to move in and occupy the houses and let the company take the Government to court later.
He told NCD barracks officer-in-charge Chief Sergeant Jeffrey Simewa to have the tenancy agreement ready by 4.06pm yesterday.
The National understands that there were outstanding payments  yet to be made to the Red Sea Housing Company.