Police want villagers to remove blockade, let people through

By SYLVESTER WEMURU
THE road from Waro and Busavi villages to Kutubu in Southern Highlands was blocked off by Hebaya villagers after a man was killed there last Dec 11, according to police. Port Moresby-based mobile squad (MS) 20 who were deployed to Kutubu last week held a mediation between the villages and appealed to them to reach an understanding to open up the road and let innocent people go to Kutubu. MS20 members said several houses were burnt in retaliation of the murder of the man at Hebaya by a man from Waro.
Local police officers attended to the scene but peace was not restored.
Those who lost their properties during the arson demanded a belkol which the Waro villagers paid with K50,000 and some pigs.
The Hebaya villagers demanded K100,000-plus for the death of their man.