Police post to address drug trafficking along border: PPC

National
Source:
The National,Friday June 17th, 2016

Northern provincial police commander Chief Inspector Lincoln Gerari has called for leaders in the province to support the initiative to build a police post at Kikiri Beach in the Oro Bay Local Level Government area.
Gerari made the call following lack of support for an important project that he and the community leaders were working on to address drug trafficking along the Northern and Morobe border.
He told The National it was an initiative that would address some of the problems in the province.
“Kikiri Beach is a gateway into the province from Morobe and most dinghy operators and betel nut traders often use this route,” he said.
He said the betel nut trade was big in the province and people took advantage of that for drug trading.
Betel nut trade was a big business and has drawn people from all over the country, especially the highlands and Momase regions to Northern.
Gerari said the negative impact had been the drug trade.
He said leaders in the province needed to support the project.
“It is not just the problem of the leaders in Oro Bay LLG but the provincial leaders as well.
“The betel nuts are taken from the province and transported through Kikiri Beach to Lae and parts of the highlands region,” he said.