Police barracks for Jiwaka, Hela

The National Planning and Monitoring Minister aims to build a police barracks each for Hela and Jiwaka.

Minister Richard Maru made his intention known during a recent trip to Jiwaka Province.

The National Planning and Monitoring Minister, after visiting the Mt Hagen Technical College, made his way up to Jiwaka Province to survey proposed sites for potential projects.

Minister Richard Maru said to discuss the building of two provincial police barracks with the Police Minister and together, they would bring their submissions to Cabinet for approval.

He outlined that next year, they would look for funding to start the process, where he urged the provincial police commander and local leadership to work with him and his colleague minister.

“Law and order em impotent. Without law and order bai i had lo atrektim investas i kam insait lo provins. We need to manage that well,” he said. (Law and order is important. Without it, we cannot attract investors into the province.)

Mi luksave lo potentshol blo Jiwaka Provins; some of the best land for agriculture em found in this particular province. So mipla nid lo putim priority lo impruvim lo en oda lo hia. And other critical infrastructure we mipla ken helpim provins lo unleashim potentshol blo disla provins.” (I have recognised Jiwaka Province’s potential; some of the best lands for agriculture are found in this particular province. So we need to prioritise law and order and other critical infrastructure that can help unleash this province’s potential.)

The Jiwaka Provincial Police Commander, Gedion Kauke, welcomed the initiative, saying land for the proposed barracks has already been surveyed.

“Ol ishuim displa setifiket, ol gim mipla pinis,” he said. “Mipla laik bildim disla graun bat mipla nidim sapot na help. (They have already issued us the certificate. We would like to develop this land but we need support and help.)

“Risen blo bildim bareks em olsem Jiwaka em wanpla niupla provins we mipla bin let fri from Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, na mipla nogat menpawa lo hendolim situeshen lo graun in terms of law and order. (The reason why we’re building this barracks is because Jiwaka, which is a new province after we were separated from Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, lacks manpower to tackle law and order situations.)

“Mipla ken hendolim disla provins gut na mipla ken bildim disla provins lo kamap gutpla provins sapos mipla gat halpim lo sait blo logistiks. Afta mipla bin seperet lo Western Highlands, mipla sot lo menpawa, mipla sot lo kar, mipla sot lo gan na mipla sot lo akomodeshen.” (We can handle well and build this province but we need assistance in terms of logistics. After we separated from Western Highlands, we experienced shortage in manpower, shortage in vehicles, shortage in firearms and in accommodation.)

PPC Kauke stressed that accommodation is needed to boost police presence as currently they have less than 200 personnel on ground.

The young province mostly suffers from misdemeanours brought on by the problem of drug and homebrew abuse.

(Minister Richard Maru with PPC Gedion Kauke, North-Waghi MP Fabian Pok and police personnel at the proposed site of the Jiwaka police barracks)

Author: 
Carmella Gware