People vote for peace and order

By ELLEN TIAMU
HUNDREDS of people who packed the Omili sports oval in Lae agreed that they want peace restored in the city.
 During a peace and reconciliation ceremony on Friday afternoon, the crowd indicated through a show of hands that they wanted all trouble makers to be dealt with by appropriate authorities and wanted normalcy to return to the city.
Coming from settlements in and outside the city, the mostly non-Morobean group staunchly supported calls from leaders, including Go­vernor Luther Wenge, Morobe peace and good order committee and settlement peace and good order committee that people should be free to move around and conduct business in Lae.
Wenge assured everyone that peace was what the public, government, businesses and law and order authorities wanted and that everyone in the community had to work together to ensure it happened.
He urged those harbouring criminals and thugs to hand them over to police.
He reminded people that harbouring wanted people was a criminal offence.
Wenge warned police would move into communities and homes at any time.
The Morobe provincial government, through the peace and good order committee will help with funeral costs and repatriation of those who died during the unrest.
Members of the peace and good order committee, settlement peace and good order committee and police chiefs, Allan Kundi, Nema Mondiai and Peter Guinness were at the peace meeting.
Community members assured the leaders they would weed out trouble-makers with the help of police to make Lae safer to work and live in.
Deputy divisional commander Momase Allan Kundi said extra police would remain in Lae for the duration of the three month fighting zone declaration and he urged those who were unemployed and unnecessarily being a menace to the general public to return to their province of origin or villages.
He warned parents and relatives not to encourage and harbour criminals in their homes.
In the meeting it was agreed that street selling would be banned.