A number of proposals and recommendations were put forth by Members of Parliament this afternoon in the debate to find better ways to addressing the deteriorating law and order situation in the country.
The Provincial Member for East Sepik, Allen Bird said a quick response by the government to send security forces to attend to tribal conflicts and surges in crime should be considered by the government going forward.
He said the response to the recent killings in Wapenamanda in Enga should have been done sooner to capture the killers and prevent further clashes and also give humanitarian assistance to the innocent men, women and children affected by the incident.
That he said was not been done effectively.
The Provincial Member for Enga, Sir Peter Ipatas said the law and order situation in his province especially the tribal conflicts, are common but there has to be better response from security forces to prevent or deter them from happening and more people killed.
He appealed to the government to consider his proposal, which he has put forth numerous times in Parliament, to have foreign partners come in and better train the country’s police and defence personnel and to also support local security forces on ground address tribal fights and law and order issues.
The Minister for Health, Dr. Lino Tom also contributed to the debate, stating that the reason for the breakdown of law and order was due to people not having confidence anymore in government institutions like the police and the judiciary. He said this can be addressed only by better improving the law and justice sector, so to get better turn around time in handling of cases and better convictions.
He said it’s the lack of confidence that see people taking matters into their hands, which then leads to conflicts and crime.
Meanwhile, the Police Minister Peter T’simalili Junior said what is needed in order to improve the law and order situation is to have stability in the government.
He said the State is doing it’s part to address the matter.
“We are addressing it but it takes time, we need stability to achieve that,” said the Minister.
He said the Marape- Rosso Government made a strong move to address law and order and will continue to do all it can to achieve that going forward.