Villagers surrender homebrew equipment

By YVONNE HAIP
THE Senglap people in Tolu, Jiwaka, have surrendered four gas cylinders used in homebrew production to police on Tuesday.
Through the initiative of leaders Peter Pai and Wilfred Kulno, the community handed over the items to Jiwaka police to become one of the first communities to help police fight illegal activities.
Acting provincial police commander Billy Kombel described Tolu as the “worst place” in Jiwaka and was responsible for producing homebrew.
He said people in the entire council ward had been involved in homebrew production.
He said police were still out to curb the increasing social ills brought about by homebrew, drugs and alcohol abuse.
Since the Christmas and New Year operations in Jiwaka started last Thursday, police have so far arrested 10 people for being in possession of drugs.
They arrested 30 people for being drunk and disorderly and drink driving. Forty-two others were arrested for assault over the weekend.
Kombel said apart from those, the celebrations had been peaceful and the law and order situation “okay”.
Kombel, who is backed by a team of 100 police officers using eight vehicles, said the operations were continuing.
He announced last week that the Christmas and New Year operations would later merge with the pre-election operations that would end on March 31.
He commended the Tolu community for helping police in enforcing the law.