Students to petition govt on incident

 By MIRIAM MALAWA

STUDENTS at the University of PNG decided at a forum yesterday to petition the Government over last weekend’s rampage by a group of Defence Force soldiers at the Medical Faculty.

The incident forced students from the Taurama campus to move to the main campus at Waigani.

Student leaders condemned the unruly behaviour of soldiers during the forum, which was attended by Vice-Chancellor Prof Albert Mellam and other senior university staff.

Student Representative Council (SRC) president Peter Numu said the issue concerned the whole student body and university community.

He said the security of students was at risk because of the unruly behaviour of members of the disciplined force who were supposed to protect citizens.

“As the voice of the silence majority, we would like petition the government to seriously look into the matter and take action,” Numu said.

“The military forces are trained to protect the country.”

He said they would await the UPNG administration’s response to their plan to hold a peaceful march to petition the Government.

He added that the medical students would not return to their Taurama campus until the matter was resolved.

“We can not let the students return to their campus because their security is not guaranteed.”

Numu also called on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to address the students and assure them of their safety.

Mellam told the students their request would be discussed by the university administration. 

“Today we will meet and wait for the SRC to lay out what they have to say because we have to consider all aspects,” he said.