Welly: Hela police lacks manpower

BY REBECCA KUKU
Hela police commander Micheal Welly says he does not have the manpower to stop an ongoing tribal fight that has now reached the corridors of the PNG LNG Project.
He said yesterday that many people in nearby villages were now living in the forests for safety purpose.
Welly said he had 120 officers on the ground, however, most of them were from Southern Highlands and had returned home after the recent killing of two Hela police officers in Southern Highlands.
He said the death toll had reached 30 and appealed to Government to fast-track approval of the provincial police structure.
Welly said he would have manpower and resources to maintain law-and-order in Hela once the structure was approved.
Community leaders from villages near the LNG project area have urged on him to arrest gunmen who were going around killing people.
Apono village Joe Ako told The National that many of his families were now hiding in the forests.
He said the tribal fight started at Kobalu Camp and had reached the Irawi and Apono villages near the LNG project.
“The death toll has reached 30 and trucks and vehicles have stopped coming to the village,” Ako said.
“Women and children are now living in the forests as all the houses along the road have been burned.”
Ako said they had been told that police did not have manpower to attend to their case.