Former top cop raises security concerns for AROB

Security in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville is still very high, without proper border patrols and surveillance in the outer atolls of the Region.

Former Buka Police Station Commander, Cletus Tsien, said this when addressing a crusade on Sunday in Buka.

He told the gathering that Bougainville needs to put safety first and not 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 in the crisis,” Tsien said.

“Our sources in the atolls tell us they have sighted ships, up to three and four sightings per day. What they do we don’t know, illegal fishing? Drug trafficking?”     

“The absence of PNGDF patrol boats in Bougainville waters has now caused panic in the atolls when strange foreign ships are sighted, mainly of Asian origin.”

He said 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 secure that is why guns and ammunition are being purchased.”

Cletus Tsien who is now the local security advisor for the United Nations development Programme (UNDP) on Bougainville says Security has been classed as less important, and has never been discussed by the ABG and its stakeholders.

Author: 
PETERSON TSERAHA