Parkop rejects NGO petition

NCD metropolitan police commander Chief Supt Fred Yakasa and his men spent more than three hours yesterday to ensure that a planned protest march to City Hall did not get out of hand and inconvenience Port Moresby residents.
The planned march from Gordon market was eventually diverted to the nearby Unagi Park at the behest of police.
At 9am, about 200 people, mostly youths, gathered at the market for the march to City Hall to petition NCD Governor Powes Parkop to present a list of alleged corrupt dealings by leaders on the floor of Parliament during its March session.
Mr Parkop later said he had written to march organisers, NGOs and Civil Society Coalition partners, on Tuesday to say that he would not receive any petition from the group.
He said he stood by that decision when representatives of the group attempted to present the petition to him at his office at Lagatoi Haus after the march.
Police, including Chief Supt Yakasa, had stayed on at the Unagi Park until the gathering was over and everyone was dispersed.