Tribal fighting has caused much damage: Undialu

Tribal fighting has caused much damage, destruction and claimed many lives in Hela, says Governor Philip Undialu.
He said fighting unlike the earthquake which hit a year ago, fighting is continueing on a daily basis.
“Every day homes are burnt, people killed and it is an obstacle that we face every day,” Undialu said.
“There is no actual figures, but I can say that there has been too many lives lost in tribal fights.”
Undialu said they had started holding peace mediation talks and called for the surrender of firearms but it would take a while. “We have started introducing poultry farming, growing food crops, including cash crops like coffee.
“We will also be providing materials to build homes for those who willingly surrender their firearms.”
Undialu said they were working on helping their people become independent and also provide some stability in their lives so that people would have something to protect and lay down their arms for.
“If these people have permanent homes and jobs, they will lay down their arms because they would not want a tribal fight that will probably end with their homes being burnt.
“At the moment the homes are made of bush materials so they have no care, they can easily rebuild them, but if we give them a stable home, they will want to protect it knowing it would not be easy to rebuild if it gets burnt down.”
Undialu said they were doing their best to address issues within the province in the context of their society.
Meanwhile, local government officers requesting anonymity said that a tribal fight has been raging around Lake Kopiago Station for two weeks.