SHP cops run out of fue

By YVONNE HAIP
SOUTHERN Highlands police fuel tanks have been dry since Jan 10 because the police department has failed to pay about K300,000 in outstanding fuel bills.
Acting provincial police commander Chief Insp Sibron Papoto yesterday confirmed that they owed the mo­ney to a local fuel supplier in Mendi
but could not say when it would be settled.
His biggest worry, he said, was that criminals were taking advantage of the absence of police to set up illegal roadblocks and charging drivers astronomical fees to pass through.
The police vehicles were grounded after the AMK service station stopped supplying fuel to the department, saying it was owed K278,891
Papoto raised this concern after police could not travel to Tepe in Imbonggu’s lower Mendi area to attend to a road block being set up by villagers.
The Tepe villagers had taken advantage of a big truck that turned over at the Lai Bridge last Sunday and blocked a section of the Mendi to Tari highway.
The villagers then “illegally” constructed a bypass and were charging all vehicles K200 which wanted to use it.
Papoto said what the locals were doing was wrong and was a direct breach of the recently enacted Protection of Transportation Infrastructure Act.
This act specifies crimes such as obstruction of the transport infrastructure, setting up of illegal road blocks, trespassing on transport infrastructures, demanding of compensation, threatening or intimidating road users, and damage to any transportation structure.
The law covers the protection of all roads, including the national highways, and provincial, district and feeder roads.
Papoto said police in the region had been instructed to implement the law but due to the fuel problems faced, the Tepe locals were getting away with murder.
He said people were not supposed to tamper with the public highways which were state entities and there were authorities in place to address such issues.
The law would ensure that all roads are free, safe and accessible by the travelling public, and police responsible for implementing it.
It carries a heavier penalty than other such crimes and anyone caught in breach
of the Act would be slapped with a K10,000 fine or face imprisonment.