Police query K8mil for ops

By ELLEN TIAMU
POLICE in Lae are unhappy about the non-payment of monies allocated by the government for special operations following ethnic clashes in the city two months ago.
The three-month Fighting Zone operation will stop at the end of this month.
They are disappointed that mobile police from Port Moresby and the Highlands were paid nearly K4,000 for only two weeks of work while they had to wait until last week to be paid K600 each.
They are querying whether the K8 million promised by the government was actually released. They want to know where the money had gone to.
They say that with limited manpower and resources they had been trying to enforce the Fighting Zone including the alcohol ban. They had maintained law and order after mobile police from other centers had to be return.
They want their bosses to explain how much money was allocated for the operation and the calculation of the rates.
Morale in the city is low with Lae already beginning to experience a new wave of bag-snatching, vehicle hold-ups and general harassment of the public.