Protect observers

Letters

East Sepik Governor Allan Bird has raised a very important issue regarding national observers going missing at sea.
Families of those who’ve gone missing at sea should appreciate the degree of concern being raised by different people in PNG.
We appreciate the committment by Deputy Prime Minister Charles Abel to have these claims verified.
It would be in everyone’s interest that families of those missing at sea step forward.
Pressure the Government to establish an office of some kind to deal with these issue.
The 12 nationals listed by Bird certainly does not include everyone who has gone missing in this line of work.
I believe there are more who need to be revealed.
This includes a Central man who went missing while on board a Russian ship off the coast of Bermuda about three years ago.
Many families in such situations would be lost for ideas on how to go about tracing their loved ones.
This calls for the authority to establish a national body to handle these situation well in future.
Comments by two citizens which appeared in The National on Tuesday (Feb 20), differ from each other.
While Observer from NCD rightly pointed out some economic measures PNG should consider, the minister for communications rightly suggested the increase of PNG national observers on foreign fishing vessels to two.
Those who have experienced open sea voyages in rough seas would agree with me that it would be good if we increased the number to four.
This is so they take turns as paired partners considering the long hours, boredom, wet voyages (alcohol on board), weather conditions and illness.
Our security strategies for nationals serving at sea on foreign fishing vessels should certainly be well organized.
This is to ensure we protect our citizens and to ensure human smuggling is prevented.

Gerard Saleu, Goroka