Doing police work in rural and remote parts of trouble-prone Southern Highlands and Hela provinces is as tough as it comes for policemen.
You have to have nerves of steel especially if you are a mobile squad member to be called by your superiors at moment’s notice to go into some of the most difficult terrain to quell lawlessness such tribal fights.
For Mendi-based Mobile Squad 10 (MS 10) members, Sergeant Danny Yawiro (right) and Senior Constable Simon Rainje (left) to combine police work in such a tough environment and do university study is no easy feat.
Yesterday the four years of sacrifice and hardwork paid off for Sergeant Yawiro and Senior Constable Rainje when they graduated with their Bachelors of Management degrees from Divine Word University during its 34th graduation ceremony in Madang.
“It was tough working in the bush in remote parts of Hela and SHP and then do studies,” said Sergeant Yawiro who is part of the MS 10 squad temporarily deployed in Tabubil during the dry season shut-down to look after the mine’s assets.
“We used to carry our laptops into the remote areas we are deployed and do our assignments and communicate with our lecturers if the internet reception was good.”
“It is a good feeling having come this far after all the challenges,” he said.
Sgt Yawiro is the second in command for MS 10 while Snr Const Rainje is administration clerk of the squad and is currently deployed in Pangia on road project operations.
The two mobile squad police officers were among 936 people who graduated with various qualifications ranging from masters degrees down to post-graduate certificates.
Keynote speaker and Australian High Commissioner Bruce Davis reminded the graduates about the importance of education towards addressing the myriad of challenges PNG faces going forward.
DWU President Prof Cecilia Nembou said DWU is moving towards making its programs more relevant and accessible in a fast evolving higher education and economic environment.
Secretary for Higher Education, Prof David Kavanamur commended DWU for successfully partnering with the government to meeting the human resource needs of the country.