A gang-rape incident and a number of killings are just some of the unresolved crimes of the neglected Morobe Rural LLG in the Huon Gulf District.
Police reservists and village court magistrates are struggling to maintain law and order in the absence of police.
Norman Jethro has been working as a reserve constable in the remote village of Sowara, Morobe Rural LLG, for 29 years now. He is the only form of law enforcement in a village that shares a border with Northern Province.
Sowara is over five hours away from Lae city, and can only be reached via the Huon Gulf. And even though Popondetta is a three-hour boat-ride away, a lack of logistics is preventing the police reservist and Sowara’s village court magistrate from accessing law and order services.
“Ol minor cases, em mipla sa sotim aut na givim timeframe lo ol defendants lo traim na stretim ol complainants,” stated Jethro. “But major ones, em mipla painim difficult. (We sort out the minor cases by giving defendants a timeframe to sort out the complainants. But it’s difficult with the major ones.)
“Murder within the Morobe south coast and Morobe inland is very high but our problem is, we don’t have the police to assist us. And the cases are still pending, em stap lo shoulder blo mipla, how to sort it out.”
Jethro reported a gang rape case involving three young men and a young woman, saying the incident occurred over three weeks ago and while the suspects have been identified, they need police officers to assist them.
While process dictates that a sexual assault victim get medical attention, the people of Sowara do not have that luxury as they will have to walk for over a day to reach the nearest health centre at the Morobe Station, while using a dinghy is too costly.
“Mipla nogat namba blo polis lo Lae na lo Morobe (LLG), mi ken tok olsem Morobe i luk olsem i nogat polis lo asistim mipla lo ol kain hevi. Ol i kam but ol widro na go bek; there’s nobody in the Morobe (LLG) police station.” (We don’t have the contact of Lae police but in the Morobe LLG, I can say that we do not have police personnel to assist us. They were deployed but withdrew again.)
The reserve constable believes that the other villages of Morobe Rural LLG are suffering the same fate. He is appealing to the provincial authorities to send police officers to help maintain law and order in their community.
(Reserve constable, Norman Jethro)