People caught crossing border to be fined up to K500,000: Police

National

ANYONE caught crossing the PNG-Indonesian border faces a fine of K500,000, East Sepik police commander Supt Albert Beli says.
It is a deterrent passed as a resolution by police and provincial Covid-19 response team because they are sick of disobedient citizens on both sides of the border who have continued to disregard efforts to prevent the virus coming into PNG.
The resolution coincides with PNG’s move to bolster border security with an additional 30 soldiers deployed there. The vanilla trade and smuggling of drugs have been the big attractions, leading to many people taking risks and endangering the lives of people in both countries.
“We have now passed a resolution and agreed that if anybody is caught crossing the provincial borders or disobeying the orders that are in place will pay a fine of maximum K500,000 or they be arrested and charged under the SOE law or other related charges,” Supt Beli said .
“We are serious because we do not want the disease to enter our province and the country.”
Meanwhile, six men who allegedly set up an illegal roadblock at Winge in Yangoru have been asked to explain their actions.
Supt Beli and the provincial Covid-19 response asked the men to report to them at the provincial communication centre at Somare Stadium in Wewak to explain why they set up the roadblock.
He said the men were not happy with the police setting up a checkpoint because it interfered with their business.
He said they had no right to question the people in authority so they had to report to the control centre and explain.
“You people are not above the law and you cannot do anything on your own because the Government has declared a state of emergency and the country is on lockdown,” Supt Beli said.
“From the records the Covid-19 response team had in the province, most of the persons of interest in relation to the virus were from the Wingei area so they should not put the whole province at risk by doing things on their own and setting up roadblocks so they can travel around freely, without being monitored.”
Supt Beli said police from Maprik on Wednesday went to the village and removed road barriers and collected the names of the men conducting the roadblock.
He said Covid-19 did not spread on its own but people moved around and took it with them.

One thought on “People caught crossing border to be fined up to K500,000: Police

  • A simple traditional border crosser (Villager) can’t pay the amount when he/she cross over for some genuine reason.

    Eg: death of his/she relative.

    We need more solider/Police to monitor border Villages.

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