Security forces told to cooperate with international observers

DEPUTY police commissioner operations Jim Andrews yesterday ordered the security forces engaged for the election operation to cooperate with international observers.
“The international observers will be here to observe the election. I have ordered the security forces to cooperate with them so that they will give a good report to the Commonwealth secretary-general about how the election is conducted in PNG,” Andrews said. He advised the observers to engage police escorts when moving around the country during the elections.
“The chairman Sir Anand Satyanand and his 12-member team visited me this morning enquiring about the elections security operations.”
Andrews said he had briefed them that there were just small pockets of areas in the country that were high security risk.
“If they want to go to these areas, they have to go with police escorts. I also briefed them of the general situation and concept of the security operation and that we are now ready” he said.
“I told them of the three phases of our operation which covers pre-operation like conducting awareness, deployment and actual operations and the counting and post-elections operation. I told them that security forces will stay neutral.”
Andrews said Sir Anand also expressed concern about the buildup of firearms in the Highlands.
“I told him that the buildup of firearms were for the tribes to show off their strength and firepower to their enemy tribes. The building up of firearms are for their own internal tribal conflict.”
He said the observers expressed confidence in the preparation for the election operation.