Shooting of officer not good for tourist town: Kulang

By GYNNIE KERO
ALOTAU is an important hub for tourism in Papua New Guinea and needs to be protected at all cost, Tourism Minister Tobias Kulang says.
Kulang said the recent armed robbery and shooting of a police officer in Alotau, Milne Bay was harmful to the tourism industry.
He said yesterday’s lockdown for several hours as police tried to address a potential hostage situation in the otherwise peaceful township “was a slap in the face”.
Kulang said passengers from the cruise ship Pacific Aria docked at the Alotau wharf yesterday were safe. Kulang stressed that the cruise line industry was still fragile and had to be protected as well.
“Today’s (yesterday’s) incident is a slap in the face and all law enforcement agencies, the community and all levels of government must stand together to fight this,” he said.
“Alotau is a very important tourism hub for PNG and has to be protected at all costs.
“Alotau has been a very safe destination and this one-off incident must be condemned at the highest level.
“We will do all we can to get to the bottom of this and apologies to any visitors affected by the incident.”