Two police stations no longer operational due to remoteness

By MARJORIE FINKEO
TWO police stations in Central are no longer operational due to their remoteness, lack of road access and previous instances of officers being attacked, a senior police officer says.
Zone three commander Chief Supt Johannes Yapi, the former Central police commander, said Magarida Station in Abau close to the border with Milne Bay and Woitape in Tapini, was no longer serving the local communities and local level governments.
“Magarida station has no boat and no policeman was posted, you will pass Abau, get on a boat at Kupiano and it will take four hours to reach the station,” he said.
“In Tapini, policemen have been attacked and many have withdrawn from working there.
“A road that we access to Woitape has been cut off by a landslide so (at the moment) there is no road access.”
The provincial government usually flies police officers into Goilala (Tapini) to deal with major crimes.
Chief Supt Yapi said provincial police had spoken with the Goilala and Abau administrations as well as local members in order to have police officers stationed in those areas again. He said presently, community leaders and reservists were dealing with law and order issues in those two areas of the province and sending reports to the Central police command officers which then relayed it to the nearest police station to attend to complaints and incidents.
“We have reserves on the ground who report to us when there are major incidents,” he said.