Six-month curfew for WNB

A TWO-month curfew in West New Britain will be extended for another six months due to ongoing criminal activities in the province, says governor Sasindran Muthuvel.
Muthuvel said this during a meeting with WNB Peace and Good Order committee after the curfew and liquor ban were lifted on Tuesday.
He said the committee had agreed the curfew and the liquor ban needed to be extended for another six months.
“We are now requesting the Government to approve and support the extension of the curfew and liquor ban for another six months,” he said.
He said the biggest challenge was the immediate and uncontrollable flow of alcohol into the market as soon as the curfew and liquor ban were lifted.
“Even during the two-month curfew, there were ongoing holdups and unlawful behaviour and that has brought us to come up with this decision,” he added.
“When the curfew and liquor ban were lifted on the 25th of this month, we immediately saw a lot of holdups and breaking and entering.”
He said youths had easy access to alcohol in markets and that had caused a rise of illegal activities in the province. “We are again requesting the Government to release the K5 million that was pledged for the previous two-month curfew operation that ended on Tuesday,” he said.
Muthuvel said the province has not yet received the K5 million and asked the Government to fast-tract the process.
“We will also seek further funding for the extension of the curfew for another six months,” he added.
Meanwhile, Muthuvel added that for the long term, they had requested to recruit and train 200 re-service police officers for the province.
“The province is also looking at building a central police barracks and base in Kapore so police can respond quickly to alerts in the town precincts,” he said.