Passenger ordered to return: Police

BY CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
A PASSENGER who boarded a Bougainville-bound flight from Port Moresby yesterday was ordered to return after landing in Buka town, a senior police official says.
Deputy Police (DCP) Francis Tokura said police ordered the Air Niugini head pilot to bring back a passenger to Port Moresby because he did not have a medical clearance to be in Bougainville.
“That passenger didn’t have medical clearance when he boarded the Port Moresby-Buka flight at the Jackson Airport in Port Moresby this morning (yesterday), so we told him not to get off the plane at Buka airport,” he said.
“We told him to return on the same plane and get a medical clearance and return on the next flight.
“The captain was made aware of our orders and allowed the passenger to return on the plane.”
DCP Tokura said Bougainville authorities would be strict on passengers coming from Port Moresby after the spike in the Covid-19 cases over the last week.
He said as the Covid-19 controller on Bougainville, he had already released strict regulations for people travelling into Bougainville.
One of the regulations is for all in-bound passengers to have medical clearances from a recognised medical authority.