Police Commissioner and Controller of the PNG COVID-19 National Pandemic Response, David Manning, has endorsed the Eastern Highlands Province Police Reservist program to beef up police manpower to address COVID-19 and policing challenges in the province. Commissioner Manning when signing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Eastern Highland Governor Peter Numu on Thursday this week highlighted that Police Reservists have been a great asset to the Constabulary in the early days however, it was discontinued due to the lack of proper command and control. “With the current COVID-19 crisis coupled with the ongoing law and order situation across the country,we have agreed to revive the Police Reservist program in partnership with provincial governments and other statutory bodies under the revised policies and command structure. “I want to commend Governor Numu and his administration for the initiative and the commitment to partner with the Constabulary in reviving the police reservist program in their province. This is a win-win approach for the Constabulary and the Province in addressing the current COVID-19 crisis and law and order issues going forward,” Manning said. Mr Manning further said that the Eastern Highland Province is among the few provinces that have come on board and are currently running similar programs in their respective provinces. Mr Manning said the Constabulary has set the target to recruit 1,100 Police reservist personnel before the 2022 national general election. Eastern Highland Governor Peter Numu thanked the Commissioner for the endorsement and his vision to revive the reservist program to address lack of police manpower in the provinces. Governor Numu also announced that the Eastern Highlands Police Reservist program will commence with the first 220 successful applicants to undertake reservist training. “Under my administration we are ready to run this program and the first batch of 220 successful applicants will go into training immediately. We need more police manpower to assist us with the COVID-19 operations and general policing thus we have taken such drastic action. This is the biggest reservist recruitment compared to other provinces and my administration will continue to sustain this program,” Governor Numu concluded.