Assistant Commissioner of Police, Peter Guinness, said Police within the Northern Command are committed to improving their response time to the public’s call for help.
Assistant Commissioner Guinness made this known when he launched the Obura-Wonenara (O-Wan) Tactical Response Unit at Kainantu in Eastern Highlands Province last week.
Guinness said this is a new concept being introduced in the Eastern part of Eastern Highlands. He said another unit will be established later in Goroka to cater for the Western end.
“Madang is also planning to come into the picture. We are establishing this response unit within the command so that we cut down on our response time to the public’s call for help. It is a new concept we are introducing in the district level and it needs the support of all of us to make sure it is operational,” Guinness said.
The Commander also opened a mini police station, which will be used as a command post for the sector response unit. The initiative was funded by the Member for Obura-Wonenara Mehrra Kipefa and the Obura-Wonenara District Development Authority.
Kipefa said it was important to have the unit established so that police can improve its response capabilities to attend to the people within the electorate.
“There are instances where government services were not being received by communities. Water pipes were being removed and road rehabilitations were being rejected. We need to support the work of police so that they can assist us to deliver those important government services to the community,” Kipefa stated during the launch.
Three vehicles have already been purchased and are being used by the tactical response unit. A drone has also been donated to the response unit.
An impressed Guinness commended Kipefa and the Obura-Wonenara DDA for their foresight in addressing law and order in the district through the public private partnership program introduced by the government.
Guinness said the current government has made a bold statement to take back PNG and for the Constabulary, one of the strategies to help do that is to fight crime with the support of stakeholders, through the public private partnership program.
(Eastern Highlands Provincial Police Commander David Seine, Obura-Wonenara MP Mehrra Kipefa, ACP Peter Guinness and PSC Kainantu Inspector Peter Roari walking to the Kainantu bus stop for the launching of the O-Wan Response Unit)