Bus stops in Lae city have been empty since this morning following the stabbing of a bus crew.
A bus crew from Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, was reportedly killed during an attempted robbery at Kerowagi Market, West Taraka.
Lae’s bus service has stopped following his death, where a majority of PMV operators say they will only resume service once the suspects have been apprehended.
Metropolitan superintendent, Chris Kunyanban, said police held a mediation with them this morning, where they assured the group that police will get to the bottom of it.
Kunyanban stated that so far, four suspects have been identified, with units going out to pick one of them up.
He further reported that the aggrieved party burnt two suspects’ houses down at West Taraka and intimidated other bus operators into halting services.
“What they’re doing basically is, they were preventing other buses that had nothing to do with the incident, to stop working,” chief supt Kunyanban stated.
“Unfortunately, we had another incident where 15 buses loaded with people, with faces painted with black ash and armed with bush knives and iron rods, came all the way from West Taraka and were coming into Eriku.
“We managed to stop them at Bumbu, Kamkumung Bridge, and we turned them back. We had to use force because they tried to defy our orders.”
Police are pushing to have all suspects apprehended so the buses can run again.
“They’re really putting strain on the commuters and companies that depend on their employees using private transport to go to and from work.”
Kunyanban said the situation could continue into the next few days, hence he is advising residents to commute between 8am and 5pm.
“We will negotiate to have the buses back on the road to service the commuters but if the commuters decide to take the road, it is advisable that they take the main roads so we can police the road while they’re walking home.
“They shouldn’t be going home late or coming out very early in the morning.
“Currently we have policing units around the city to ensure residents’ safety.”
(An empty Eriku bus stop today)
