The Commissioner of the Correctional Services, Mr. Steven Pokanis has welcomed the formation of the new cabinet and welcomed the idea of working closely with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary under the introduction of the new Ministry, which is the Internal Security, and will be headed by Peter Tsiamalili Jnr.
Commissioner Pokanis stated that he sees a lot of good with this arrangement as traditionally, they have been working closely with the Police Force and taking this option to merger both security forces under one ministry, he noted that he sees a lot of opportunities in this venture.
“I see a lot of good can come from this arrangement as we have worked with the police for over a number of times and traditionally the three distinct forces had their own ministries in the past and I see a lot of good can come from this arrangement,” said the commissioner.
In terms of partnership between the two organizations, he said that there are legislations that governs both Police and the Correctional Services and that their roles are very distinct, but in terms coordination, in terms of knowing what other organizations bring to the table and working together and lastly in terms of sharing resources, both have been there to assist each other.
“The CS is always there when there is a call out by the government, we come under the Police commissioner to assist. Having this one ministry I believe it will strengthen and improve the ongoing cohesion, coordination and relationship that we already have in place our disciplinary force and police force and also with the PNG Defence Force,” Mr. Pokanis added.
The other sector that could be pivotal would be the law and justice sector. Mr. Pokanis stated that there are a number of agencies that fall under the sector and has advised that he can see the opportunity for all agencies to come together and look at cross cutting issues that may directly or indirectly that cuts accross one agency to another.
“Having this mechanism in place and having one ministry now I think it will help us in terms of working together with our ministers like the Attorney General or the Minister for Justice with the Minister for internal Affairs,” said Mr. Pokanis.
He also highlighted that in terms of national security where they conduct discussions on national security matters they will now be able to work in file and talk with the minister to deliberate on these issues.
“It’s a good initiative and its early days but getting like-minded people to work with our minister, I see a lot of opportunities that can help both agencies and especially the Law and Justice sector,” he added.
This could be the start of many great things to come.
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