Priest: Bullets not the answer

By LARRY ANDREW
BULLETS will not restore peace, says the head of the Evangelical Lutheran church, Bishop Giegere Wenge.
Wenge was speaking yesterday at a meeting organised by Pr Newman Watapi of the Lae Pastors Fraternal at the United church on Cassowary Road.
He was referring to the shooting of five men by police at Bumayong last weekend.
The meeting was attended by women and youth groups from churches and ethnic communities to find ways to resolve the violence reportedly caused by Morobeans on the highlanders.
“The violence has opened the eyes of the churches and questioned where their position is because there are so many ministries in the settlements and around the city and yet nothing has been done to create peace and harmony,” a women’s group leader said.
Speakers during the meeting stressed that the churches must work together with the government to find lasting solutions to social problems.
They said unemployment and poverty were contributing factors as youths try to find means and ways to survive.
Watapi and the elders of the fraternity presented a petition to the Morobe provincial council yesterday.
The forum will continue today. And the fraternity has called on the Lae chamber of commerce, community leaders, women groups, stakeholders, pastors and church leaders to attend.