Public urged to support police

 By GABRIEL LAHOC

POLICE need public support to address lawlessness and village courts are vital in keeping people on their toes, Lae metropolitan commander Supt Iven Lakatani said.

He told people this at Yanga village in Lae last Friday while presenting uniforms to 11 village court officials. They received trousers, long-sleeved shirts, boots and identification cards.

Local Ahi stevedoring company, Riback Stevedores, paid uniforms for the five village court magistrates, five peace officers and a clerk from the Ahi villages of Butibam, Wagang and Yanga whose court area known as Buwayang was established in 1999.

“In law and order it makes it easier with magistrates because police can’t work alone. A lot of unsolved problems grow bigger if they are not solved at the community level,” Lakatani said.

He hailed the initiative of the Ahi Hope Foundation in seeking sponsorship to provide uniforms for the local court officials.