Joint Security Task Force

Units from the Royal PNG Constabulary and the PNG Defence Force responded to reports of a gathering crowd at Two-Mile at around 9am.

Backup was called when it was obvious that the crowd size was too big; over 200 men, women and children were loitering around the area.

Commissioner Manning made this call following a disturbance earlier today in the Southern Highlands township of Mendi. He said law and order is being maintained in Mendi with a heightened security presence on the streets.

Commissioner Manning, who is Commander of the National General Election 2022 Joint Security Task Force (JSTF), said preparations were in place ahead of time to overcome potential unrest or agitation between rival candidate supporters.

“The JSTF has sufficient manpower in place to deal with any election-related disturbance in Mendi.

CS Boram Commander, Superintendent Aaron Menau, said though they did not receive any funding from the headquarters nor the East Sepik Administration, they went ahead and deployed 35 of their officers for the security of the elections.

Commander Menau said, as a member of the Provincial Election Steering Committee he had to give all he can to the smooth running of the elections in the province.

In a press conference today, the PNG Police Association said the Government immediately made the undertaking following last week’s threat of industrial confrontation.

The General Secretary of the Police Association, Clemence Kanau, said the Deputy Prime Minister, on behalf of the Prime Minister and his government, hosted a meeting with the Trade Union Congress and Police Association executives to solve issues raised by these unions.

They made their stance known following reports of the Finance Minister saying deductions could be made to cover the cost of parliamentary damages.

Finance Minister James Marape told media on February 15^th that he is considering deducting the cost of Parliamentary damages from the Government’s payment commitment to the Joint Security Task Force, which is still outstanding.

This statement did not go down well with executives of the Police Association.

Members of the Joint Security Task Force, who were involved in security operations during November’s APEC Summit, vandalised the Parliament on November 20^th in frustration over outstanding allowances.

The initial payment arrangement by the JSTF commander was K200 per day for a period of 18 days. Members of the disciplinary forces however disagreed, saying an international summit warrants a much higher rate.

“As I have mentioned in previous statements, I welcome the audit of funds allocated to and expended by the JSTF,” Commissioner Baki said.

He stated that as far as he was concerned, all allowances for members of the security forces engaged for APEC 2018 security operations have been paid.

His statement follows reports of PNG Defence Force soldiers and police officers gathering yesterday at the Sir Manasupe Haus for their outstanding payment.

“The responsibility to pay the allowances for these joint security forces is a job of the commissioner of police,” Minister Justin Tkatchenko said.

“He has been given the funding, as of last year, and this year, to pay all the allowances necessary to those that worked during APEC for security.

Frustrated Joint Security Task Force personnel stormed the House of Parliament today over the non-payment of their allowance.

Apart from Vulupindi, their neighbours from Treasury have also closed their doors.

Members of the joint task force said some of their colleagues have worked for 1-2 months without allowance.

However, APEC CEO Christopher Hawkins said: “The payment of allowances for police, CS and defence normally take a week to process at the end of a major event.

Loop PNG was on site when the convoy of JSTF vehicles entered the Waigani Parliament, witnessing the assault of a number of parliament staff.

This followed a press conference today at the Rita Flynn complex, where Police Commissioner Gari Baki gave the assurance that funds have been released by the Government.

However, JSTF officers who surrounded the complex screamed verbal abuse at police hierarchy and media personnel, saying they are tired of waiting for their allowance.