East New Britain’s Provincial Administrator, Mr. Levi Mano, has urged parents to actively guide their children amid rising crime rates across the province.
Speaking also as the head of the Provincial Law and Order Committee, Mano said that law enforcement alone cannot address these issues without community support.
He called on parents, especially mothers and fathers, to instil respect, values, and discipline in their children from a young age.
According to Mano, community leadership begins within the family, with parents setting standards of respect for life and property.
He warned that society today lacks the communal respect once seen, a shift he believes contributes to growing lawlessness.
“This is no longer the community we grew up in where people had respect for another life and other people’s property.”
“As the Chairman of the Provincial Law and Order Committee, my only request is for the community to rise up.”
“We need leadership at the community to stand together and curb lawlessness in the communities – and this starts at the family homes, with the mother and father,” he said.
This community-based approach, he stated, is essential for creating a respectful, safe environment in East New Britain and curbing lawlessness at its roots.
Mano also noted that, while the police are constitutionally responsible for law and order, the provincial government continues to assist them by providing fuel, vehicles, and other resources to strengthen their operations.
Meantime, Mr. Mano iterated that though the law-and-order sector has its responsible State agencies like the Police Department, the provincial government is supporting in whatever way it can and where it’s allowed to by law to assist in curbing crimes.
“We, the Provincial Government and it’s administration are assisting the police to do their work, with fuel, rations, cars and allowances.”
“By constitution, the police department is responsible for law and order, but this doesn’t mean that the police department is the sole responsible stakeholder in curbing law and order issues,” he said.