Raminai wants SoE to stop bloody tribal war

By PISAI GUMAR
A GOVERNMENT Member of Parliament (MP) wants Sugu Valley to be declared a state of emergency(SoE) to stop the bloody tribal war but the police say “it is not yet necessary” to do that.
The tribal war, triggered on Feb 10, has to date claimed at least 30 lives (men, women, children and babies) in Southern Highlands.
Kagua-Erave MP Wesley Raminai, in a statement released in Port Moresby, urged the Government to declare a SoE in the district to stop the bloodbath in the valley.
However, Southern Highlands police commander Chief Supt Martin Lakari said that was not necessary because “the fighting has ceased for two weeks”. “Unless the situation worsens, police will not declare Sugu Valley as an Inter-Group Fighting Zone (IGFZ) or SoE,” Lakari said.
“Declaring IGFZ will give security forces wider powers to move in to arrest and disarm warring tribal leaders and armed fighters.
“But since the fighting has stopped, police cannot declare IGFZ or SoE. Such a declaration will also require funding for security operations.”
Lakari told The National that for now, local church and community leaders, businessmen Maita Yawi, provincial peace mediation committee and police were working together to restore normalcy for mediation to proceed.
“We are also avoiding declaring IGFZ or SoE because we do not want to disrupt the efforts and programmes of those trying to mediate and broker for peace in meetings with warring tribal leaders.”
Raminai said tribal fighting had escalated into proportions that needed the intervention of the Government.
“What is needed is the declaration of a SoE to facilitate security operations to stop the unnecessary killings and destruction of properties.
“Tribal fights have been raging for close to three months and initial attempts by me and the Kagua Peace and Good Order Committee have failed to stop the clashes and feuds.
“Restoring (public) law and order must now be prioritised. At the start of the fights, we organised police and defence force manpower to go into the troubled areas to stop the deadly and bloody armed clashes.
“I provided funding and logistics to maintain police and defence forces presence in the area for as long as possible.
“Unfortunately, the warring parties saw this as an opportunity to rest and rearm.”
Kagua LLG president David Kuna said the tribal fighters returned to the battlefields when the security personnel left.
“Now, the rising number of deaths and loss of properties have sowed deeper hatred and feuds from rival tribal groups,” he said.