Members of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary work in some of the most difficult and dangerous conditions for policing in the Pacific region.
On the home front, their families live in some of the most rundown and uninhabitable dwellings in the country.
In Lae City, ‘Loop PNG’ visited 17 police families who are living in condemned student dormitories at the Three-Mile Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL)’s old training centre.
With family sizes averaging between 1 and 5 children, cramped living spaces are the least of their concerns; they have no water, no electricity and only one pit toilet for everyone to use.
Flavia Marian spoke on behalf of her husband, a non-commissioned officer attached to the Lae City Authority police reservists. She said it is a difficult life for them.
“We had our first son in 2019. At that time, we had running water. The water pressure was sufficient until more settlers came in and started making illegal connections. That was when the water stopped running,” said Flavia.
They’ve had no running water since 2019.
The couple met in 2017 while he was residing in the police single’s quarters at Bumbu Barracks. That same year, they moved to Three-Mile after outlining their need to accommodate their growing family to the former Police Station Commander of Three-Mile.
They had two more children; a girl who is now four years old, and a two-year-old son.
It has become an endless wait for Institutional housing for the families who live here. For Flavia, managing the household has been no easy feat with no running water and electricity.
In 2023, their eldest son was diagnosed with tuberculosis. The thought of moving had crossed their minds, but due to security concerns, they decided to remain.
“A police officer is, potentially, public enemy,” she explained. “We can live outside but because of his safety, it’s better we reside with members of the force.”
Flavia said at times when her husband is to be deployed, he would just wash his face and rush out to get in the waiting vehicle.
“He can wake up early in the morning – at 2 or 3am – to go. Most times, he drives his bosses. So, if he is to pick them up at 2am, he will wake as early as 1am, look for water to wash and prepare his breakfast, then he’ll go.
“On normal working days, sometimes he’ll work until late then come home to sleep. While he’s still sleeping, his pickup will come and start tooting its horn. He’ll just wake up, get dressed and go.
“Most times, we get angry about it. You’re not looking after our welfare but you expect a lot from him.
“Sometimes he sleeps only for an hour or two, then he has to go back to work again. This has also caused strains in the marriage.”
The building they are in has broken windows, floorboards and walls - a story all too familiar with families residing in government housing across the country.
Constable Dorcas Tei, from Simbu Province, has been working as a police officer in Lae for eight years.
From the single’s quarters at Bumbu Barracks, she joyfully moved to a standalone home, within the barracks, on June 24th, 2023.
What was rightfully a celebration turned to shock and dismay when a step through the doorway showed no rooms, rotting walls with holes in them and sagging floorboards.
Her first focus was on the walls; it cost her close to K3,000 to buy materials to have them replaced while a car jack did a good job of holding up the cement floor in the toilet.
“There’s electricity but the lights aren’t working. We can use the toilet but we have to carry buckets of water from the outside,” she said.
Tei, who’s a single mother with two children, lamented that she will need a plumber and an electrician but with a long list of things to be fixed on a limited budget, she has no choice but to count her blessings.
“At least there’s a roof over my head,” she said with a forced smile.
“My bosses thought it was a good house until they saw the inside. They mention it at every meeting.
“After I put up the walls, I felt better. Prior to that, I was anxious. I felt sick. I went to work looking sick.
“Most of the houses here are rundown. Termites have eaten away at almost everything. The occupants are fixing them little by little.
“If our wellbeing is prioritised then we will be happy to work. I can go to work but my thoughts are elsewhere. I can’t concentrate.”
On the other side of the Bumbu Barracks, a 32-room single quarters has families waiting for years to move to standalone homes. They’ve have been without water and electricity for five years.
The single quarters – male block has 40 rooms each in block A and B. All 80 rooms are occupied by officers and their families. It’s the same with a 13-room female single quarters.
Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police, Chris Kunyanban, agreed that Lae has a serious housing problem. He believes the situation has worsened due to the fact that the government has no proper record of the population.
An increase in population forces services to grow; in this case, policing services.
“When you’re recruiting police officers, you have to give them cars, give them houses and other tools like computers, an office to operate in – so the requirement grows,” Kunyanban said.
“Unfortunately, since the government does not have real statistics on the population, it keeps us guessing.
“They’re saying, ‘more policemen, more policemen’, then we have housing problems. And that is exactly what is happening in Lae.”
He further outlined the risks of having police officers residing outside the barracks, saying they place themselves at risk when dealing with perpetrators in the community.
“And then you look at the poor policing service. That consequence is because the poor policeman, thinking about his family, and he’s living in the settlement, will not perform to expectation.
“In reality now, if we start recruiting police officers, infrastructure has to be built. And there should be a program for the maintenance of the houses.”
Kunyanban emphasised what police officers have been saying; improve their welfare, boost their morale.
“If the houses are rundown, they will spend half of the time looking for timbers to fix them. The department does not have the money to fix all the houses in the country.
“Psychologically, it affects them. They’ll be more concerned about the welfare of their family; they won’t give 110 percent to the department.”