A St John Ambulance (SJA) vehicle crashed into a tree yesterday at the Eriku bus stop in Lae, Morobe Province.
Police have reported that the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
Eyewitnesses claimed the vehicle, a Nissan Urvan, was travelling at high speed when it slammed into the Eriku bus stop median and careened off into a nearby raintree.
The driver is now in police custody, where chief superintendent Chris Kunyanban said charges will be formalised and laid against him.
According to a recent agreement signed between St John Ambulance, Lae City Authority and the Morobe Provincial Health Authority, SJA will be operating in Lae starting May, where it will send over five of its experienced officers from Port Moresby.
When asked to comment on the matter, SJA chief executive officer, Matt Cannon, said the vehicle was being used without their permission.
“St John was due to start services next week in Lae. We were flying over ambulance officers from Port Moresby next week,” he stated.
“Until the St John staff arrived, the ambulance was being kept at the Morobe Provincial Health Authority. It appears someone within MoPHA had the keys and used the ambulance without permission.
“St John staff were not involved and we had no knowledge the PHA was using the ambulance that night.”
This situation follows at the back of another incident involving an MPHA vehicle that was allocated to the CEO, Dr Kipas Binga.
It was reported that Dr Binga’s vehicle was driven by a relative when the accident occurred. When asked about it, Dr Binga told media that the vehicle was damaged whilst navigating around a pothole.
Concerns have also been raised regarding the usage of Lae’s COVID-19 vehicle, where staff claim family members and relatives are getting picked up and dropped off.
Dr Binga clarified that the Morobe Provincial Government owns the vehicle, hence the matter is out of the health authority’s jurisdiction.
