The 2022 National General Elections may be over, and life has moved on, but election related violence continues to occur in parts of the Highlands region prompting the decision to deploy more security personnel and resources to stop this senseless violence.
Police Commissioner David Manning, when giving the update on the incidents that occurred during the 47th Independence Celebrations throughout the country, said he received reports of continued clashes from the aftermath of the election results in the newly created Magarima electorate in the Hela province. Manning said sadly this situation is also occurring in the neighbouring provinces to Hela, the provinces in the Highlands Western End Command area.
“We put up a joint task force both of police and military personnel to continue to progress our efforts up there to ensure that the provinces of Hela, Enga and Southern Highlands are returned to some sense of normalcy,” said Manning. The commissioner said recent violence has prompted police to closely monitor the situation and respond accordingly.
“We’ll continue to monitor the situation up there, but in light of the recent violence up there that erupted over the last week and continuing through to the independence celebrations, we’ll continue to deploy more resources and police assets up there to address those issues.” Manning concluded by saying that the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) will continue to ensure that the best response to the situation in the highlands is constantly reviewed and if there needs to be changes in how things are being done, they will continue to do so.