Security in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville is still very risky, without proper border patrols and surveillance in the outer atolls of the Region.
Former Buka Police Station Commander Cletus Tsien speaking at a crusade in Buka town on Sunday night told the gathering that Bougainville needs to put safety first and not to be blinded by other less important stuff.
“As a former police commander I know facts about security here, guns we have here now are more than the guns we had during the crisis,” Tsien said.
“Our sources in the atolls of this region tell us they have sighted ships, up to three and four sightings per day what they do we don’t know, illegal fishing or drug trafficking?
The absence of PNGDF patrol boats in Bougainville waters has now caused panic in the atolls of the region when sighting strange foreign ships mainly from Asian origin.
It is now very evident that guns are everywhere on Bougainville, during the crisis only fighters had guns now everybody has access to one. Especially with the boom in business activities business people do not feel secured that is why guns and ammunition are being purchased.
Tsien who is now the local security advisor for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Bougainville claims security has been classed as less important, and has never been discussed by the ABG and its stakeholders.
“We’re on a very risky pathway right now when we’re aren’t putting security as one of our top priorities and that is so bad for the future of this region, talking referendum and then eventually independence we need to be secured first,” Tsien said.