Robbery at Tawali Resort a blow to tourism: Manager

TWENTY-FOUR tourists from six countries were robbed of their valuables by 16 armed men on Thursday at the Tawali resort in Milne Bay, the resort’s general manager Armando Agusto said.
“Ten Chinese, nine Americans, one Slovak, one Brazilian, two Israelis and one Canadian were having dinner at about 7pm when the criminals struck in the island district.
In addition, five Filipinos and 55 local staff also became victims of the gang. The criminals seemed to have taken advantage of the fact that all the guests would be attending dinner and that it was the night before 20 of the tourists were to check out.”
Agusto said the holdup lasted an hour and 45 minutes, “they were synchronised and organised.”
The criminals allegedly took cell phones, laptops, a small amount of money and other personal items from the guests, staff and the resort.
No one was injured during the holdup. While most of the guests were on pre-booked flights out the next morning, the remaining guests chose to continue their stay and enjoy the rest of their holiday, Agusto said.
He said police were informed of the robbery at about 7.30pm while it was still in progress.
“It took them over three hours to respond,” Agusto said. “The resort was not visited by the police until three days after the incident.” Agusto said at this point, Tawali had not received any updates from the police regarding the whereabouts of the gang.
“The governor, deputy governor and provincial police commander are yet to contact Tawali to advise a way forward in relation to the ongoing protection of tourists and the province.”