Police commission armoured vehicles

By LULU MARK
THE general election has become riskier over the years hence capacity building is important for the protection of police personnel and to ensure a safe and free election for the people, officials say.
At the commissioning of the three armoured vehicles bought by police for this year’s election security operations and other policing challenges at McGregor Police Barracks on Friday, Minister William Onglo said the vehicles were a shared asset to be used by PNG Defence Force, Correctional Service and police.
He said the first deployment of the vehicles would be in the highlands for the protection of the service men and women and the people.
“The vehicles are part of our capacity building,” he said.
“We will look at the regional capacity building of our tactical units to protect our policemen and women.
He said the modified vehicles were all standard compatible LandCruisers (two 10-seaters and one four-door version) which was the common model used by the police force which could be easily managed, fixed and maintained.
He said the total cost of the vehicles was about K2.6 million and now that the process on how to bring the armoured vehicles was known, this was the start and more might have to be brought in.
According to Police Commissioner David Manning, the vehicles were procured through the United Arab Emirates.
He said the four-doors cost around K280,000 and the 10-seater cost around K275,000.
He said there were questions about the costs and why the police force was invested in this type of operational assets.
“The answer is quite simple, the very minute you wear this uniform, you deliberately put yourself in danger every day and policing in this country is a potentially violent and high risk career that you are embarking on.
“That’s a concern those of us who are responsible for leading the respective forces do not take lightly.
“We have the responsibility to sit with widows and explain to them that their father, mother, partner had died in the course of their duty through deliberate violent act,” Manning said.
He said these vehicles were an addition to the security forces capacity to mitigate threats during election operation.
He said the three forces working together would at least be a deterrent to the people who wished to harm not only the service men and women but the voters as well.

Watchdog concernedabout electoral laws

TRANSPARENCY International Papua New Guinea (TIPNG) is sounding the alarm on the risk of an inadvertent breach of both the election laws and the Constitutional requirements pertaining to the conduct of this year’s general election.
TIPNG, in a statement yesterday, said key information from the PNG Electoral Commission (PNGEC) had not been forthcoming despite several attempts made by TIPNG.
Chairman Peter Aitsi said Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai had announced a revised election schedule issued by Governor-General Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae on Friday, however, PNGEC officials had not produced a gazettal notice, giving effect to the announcement.
“TIPNG understands that the delay in the commencement of an election is the administrative prerogative of the PNGEC,” they said.
“Our concern is that the Constitution is quite clear on the deadline for the return of writs, which is the fifth anniversary of the last return of writs.
“In the 2017 general election, writs were returned on July 29.
“It is important to take note that the general election must be viewed as a holistic process.
“It commences with the issue of writs, and is completed when the writs are compiled and returned.”
Aitsi explained that the Organic Law on National and Local Level Government Elections prescribed timeframes for the scheduling of elections within a three-month period before the anniversary of the return of writs.
“The issue is that that both the Organic law on National and Local Level Government Elections and the Constitution, may not have contemplated an extensive delay in return of writs, thereby breaching the fifth anniversary deadline, which is where we envisage a constitutional crisis emerging.”

Coronavirus remains a threat during election

Coronavirus (Covid-19) is still the health threat apart from security risks in the general election, Police Commissioner David Manning says.
Manning, who is also the National Pandemic Response Controller, said the National Control Centre had worked very closely with the Electoral Commission and delivered the Moresby Northwest by-election last year and the same would be done this election.
“We talk about security threats but apart from our people being exposed to the direct violent acts, there’s also the health threat,” he said.
“NCC is working with Electoral Commission to ensure that we mitigate the risk of Covid-19 from spreading during the election time. Police Minister William Onglo also said people should be mindful of Covid-19 and respect each other.
He said Covid-19 was the biggest threat and it was important that policemen and women were not put in situations compromising their health.