Respect law: Officer

 POLICE are urging community leaders in Kerowagi district, Chimbu, to stop people from carrying out criminal activities on public roads.

Jiwaka provincial police commander Supt Joseph Tondop said the Duglogambal market was becoming a notorious place where homebrew and marijuana addicts harassed travellers and motorists, even smashing windscreens of vehicles and trucks for no reason.

“It looks like there are no leaders in the area because these homebrew and marijuana people are controlling the market and do anything on the road,” he said.

Tondop said some drunkards and marijuana addicted people damaged a 15-seater bus owned by a man from Tolu village, in Jiwaka, on Sunday morning.

He said it was not the first time locals had done this to a bus. Many buses and vehicles travelling on the Duglogambal section of the road had been subjected to assaults by drunkards.

He said locals had no respect for people travelling on the road.

“This is a national highway and I want to appeal to the leaders to control their people and stop them from engaging in such criminal activities,” he said.

Tondop said police would do their bit to fix the problem but needed the help of local leaders to advise the people to respect the law.

He sent the Banz station commander to Kerowagi yesterday to talk with the leaders from Duglogambal and demand compensation from the people who damaged the bus on Sunday.

He warned youths drinking homebrew and smoking marijuana beside the road at the market to stop it.