Police unable to manage PNG’s law and order, says Internal Security Minister

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Police unable to manage PNG’s law and order, says Internal Security Minister

PORT MORESBY: Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili says police are unable to manage law and order in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with its current manpower of 5,000 personnel.

“The recommended ratio of policemen to citizens is 1:450 but it is now 1:1,000. Talks on law and order have become a common discussion in all our formal and informal forums,” he added.

The news break was reported by The National:

Government looking to increase police manpower next year

November 28, 2022The NationalNational

INTERNAL Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr says current police numbers which stand at around 5,000 cannot manage law and order problems in PNG.
He said the recommended ratio of police officer to citizens was one policeman to 450 people however in PNG, it was one policeman to almost 1,100 people.
“Talks on law and order have become a common discussion in all our formal and informal forums,” he said.
Tsiamalili, who is also regional MP for Autonomous Region of Bougainville, said this in response to Kainantu MP William Hagahuno’s query on whether the ministry had plans to increase police manpower across the country given the rising law and order issues.
Hagahuno said the country’s police force clearly did not have enough manpower to cater for a population which was well above nine million.
He said there were concerns raised by citizens about increasing crimes, deaths and people feeling unsafe moving around in their own country.
“Police are finding it difficult to contain this and bring law and order problems under control,” he said.
Hagahuno said the Government needed to look into the matter as a top priority and one of the first things to do was to increase the number of police.
Tsiamalili said the increase in manpower would be the ministry’s main focus next year.
He said he would present a white paper highlighting those needs and steps to increase the capacity to the internal security this week.
“Once we talk about recruiting and increasing the capacity, at the same time we must give same respect and support to the exit of our policemen and women,” he said.
He added that the Police Commissioner David Manning had given directives to all provincial police commanders to make sure their policing plans were completed and signed off in order to have visibility at higher level so the ministry could plan and support accordingly.
He said effective policing was also a collaborative effort by stakeholders to ensure law and order peace and justice in communities.
Tsiamalili thanked the Government for its continuous support of resources and budgetary support to address law and order issues.

Law, order issues irk MP

November 28, 2022The NationalMain StoriesUncategorized

DEPUTY Opposition leader Douglas Tomuriesa says the current state of law and order in the country is appalling.
These law and order issues happen because morals and responsibilities are lacking in families and individuals.
“One of the pillars of our nation is family,” he said.
“Strong families create stable communities.”
Tomuriesa said nowadays proper discipline (corporal punishment) has not been taught to children because there are laws protect them against such treatment.
He said it had come to a point where there was an increase in misbehaviour in homes and communities.
He made mention of the recent killing of a man from Central at Erima in Port Moresby when making his point about morals and the respect for life.
“We are treating our fellow countrymen like animals,” he said.
Tomuriesa added that the allocation of a majority of the National Budget to law and order issues was a “band-aid” solution.
“We need to focus more on the core issue which is the strengthening of family values,” he said.
“This generation of young men and women have no respect for their elders and no regard for their communities,” he said.
He said the issue of lawlessness was due to many factors, one of them was the high cost of goods and services. To survive, many (youths) turn to a life of crime,” he said.
The Kiriwina-Goodenough MP added that the Vagrancy Act needed to be implemented in order to manage the rise in crime in urban areas. He said the focus needed to be on strengthening 
homes, churches and educational institutions that would help young people become better.

Tsiamalili says police force must be funded and functional

November 28, 2022The NationalNational

THE police force, in future, must be fully funded and functional to manage ourselves in the space of our sovereignty, says Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili.
Tsiamalili said this in Parliament last week when responding to Morobe Governor Luther Wenge who said law and order issues being rampant and police not well equipped to perform their duties.
“Under Section 225 of the Papua New Guinea Constitution, the Government of the country is under legal obligation to provide sufficient resources for the police to carry out their constitutional duties,” Wenge said.
“The Government is not budgeting and taking into account what is required by the police to perform their duties in this country.”
Wenge said this has resulted in the total law and order chaos and asked if the Minister (Tsiamalili) was aware of Section 225 of the Constitution and what his department was doing to address crime.
Tsiamalili said he was aware of Section 225 and that the issue should have been handled a long time ago.
“If those responsible had taken heed of our constitutional obligation, the police would not be put in this current situation,” he said.
Tsiamalili said with the (district and provincial improvement funds), there was enough available to handle law and order issues.

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