Tribal fighting hindering development in district, says Kipefa

By SAMUEL BARIASI
TRIBAL fighting in Obura-Wonenara, Easter Highlands, is hindering development in the district, MP Mehrra Kipefa says.
Kipefa said even though the police tactical response unit set up by the district had helped a lot in addressing law and order issues in the district, tribal fights still remained a challenge.
“We’re managing to control tribal fighting and bringing peace,” he said.
Kipefa admitted that law and order issues were a major problem in the district.
He said the tribal fighting mind set was ingrained in villages around the district.
“We are not fighting because of land or other issues, we are fighting because of things such as rugby league and other (minor) issues,” he said. He said people in the district needed to be educated in order to solve problems in better ways.
“We’ve started renovation on our district headquarters and most of our sectors would be move back to the headquarters by the end of this year.”
Kipefa said several Government properties in the district had been destroyed due to fights and he took measures to make the people understand the need to respect Government infrastructure and services.
“I had to hold off (renovations) for a year and a half just to get people to learn their lesson and feel the consequences of their actions.”