Village sensitive for police presence, says Wagambie

HANUABADA is a very sensitive area for police, a senior police officer says.
Divisional Commander for NCD/Central and Assistant Commissioner of Police Anthony Wagambie Jr made the comment in light of a previous incident that saw a confrontation between police and villagers which led to people being badly injured and deaths.
“This happened before I took up my current post,” ACP Wagambie Jr said.
“I assured the villagers that a neutral investigation from the Police Headquarters Crimes Directorate would take place.
“The assistant commissioner for crimes is in charge of this.”
He said after he came into office 2019, he had a formal meeting with Motu Koita Assembly (MKA) chairman Dadi Toka Jr where he had raised concerns about law and order issues in Hanuabada and Motu Koita villages.
ACP Wagambie said police were to embark on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to have a community approach to policing Hanuabada, commencing last year but the Covid-19 pandemic halted their plans.
He said last week, Toka and his team met with the Police commissioner David Manning to initiate the MoU.
“A meeting was arranged for NCD Met Supt Gideon Ikumu, NCD Policing Zone One Commander Chief Insp Fred Tundu and the MKA team,” he said.
“From the policing perspective, we want the MoU to be practical and achievable.
“Met Supt Ikumu and his team have worked on this with MKA ensuring that the MOU will achieve that.
“I understand the MOU is now ready for Police Commissioner David Manning to sign after the Police Legal Officers peruse it.”
“The situation of the Motu Koita villages,especially Hanuabada is different from the rest of the country,” he said. “Their traditional land have been occupied by the fast pace of development of Port Moresby but this does not warrant them to break laws.
“Issues such as homebrew distilling and sale will be stopped as well as unnecessary stopping of traffic.”