Police in Kimbe, West New Britain Province have confirmed an incident involving Kumbango communities attacking doctors after their weekend party last weekend.
Constable Martin Vitolo told Loop PNG that they (doctors) have file a complaint at the Kimbe police station along with quotation from the damages done to their vehicle.
He said police will be carrying out their investigations into the matter today or tomorrow.
A female doctor who wanted to remain anonymous because of safety reasons told Loop PNG that they were attacked by the whole community at Kumbango after swimming in the river near the compound.
The incident happened on Sunday when two female doctors with their family drove out to the river and spent the day swimming
“We were driving back in the afternoon when we got attacked by the whole community at Kumbango Division 3 NBPOL Compound,” the traumatised doctor told Loop PNG from Kimbe.
She said on board the vehicle were two female doctors, two children, a one-year-old and three-year-old, the female babysitter and the husband of one of a doctor who is an expatriate.
“We do not know why they suddenly decided to stop all their game and domestic activities and ran out onto the street with huge rocks, woods, bush knives and attacked us.
“There was a soccer match going on that afternoon at the community centre where the field was, so you can imagine on one side of the street was the soccer game and on the other side were residential units.
“It should have been the safest place to drive through; we greeted the people as we slowly drove through.
“The next minute, the guys from the soccer match, stopped and ran towards the car and we were forced to stop and they started to stone the car and physically harassed us, picked up anything and everything they could find in the car, demanded that we give them money, phones, car keys and all valuables we may have had in the car.
“They even picked up all our wet change of clothes from the swimming and the kid’s swimming floaters and tubes. They just helped themselves. The whole community, mothers, fathers, children, teenagers, young adults, they all came at us, we were completely helpless.
“It seemed like it was a community of thugs with no leadership presence at all.”
She said as professionals coming to the province to provide much needed health services to the communities, they continuously felt threatened by the thugs.
She said they will be writing to the provincial government and New Britain Palm Oil Ltd to investigate and hold those responsible to justice.
They are also threatening to stop treating patients from the NBPOL blocks until these culprits are arrested and charged.
Recently, law and order problems have been on the rise in Kimbe with murder, rape, and petty crimes all in one month.
Earlier this month, two tribes from the biggest squatter settlement, section 21 Bush Camp had a tribal clash and the whole settlement was burnt down.
Following that incident, there has been an increase in the crime rate especially murder and rape cases around the settlements such as Aling, Kumbango and others.