Outgoing Milne Bay Provincial Police Commander, Superintendent Peter Barkie has expressed serious concerns over the increased frequency of armed robberies in the province recently. Barkie said so far they have received 3 reports of major armed robberies and has met with his men today to find ways on how to address these incidents. “This week we’ve had some issues and today I called a meeting to counter these issues.” A week before, armed men stormed the Gadaisu/Sagarai area outside of province capital and held up everyone, taking a few belongings and possibly money. Then just yesterday police once again received word of another amredrobbery occurrence in the same area. The last one was also reported this week, with the same motive, a home was robbed and the owner beaten up. So far, due to logistical restraints and the remoteness of the areas affected, police are now working out ways to tackle this issue. “Those places are quite a distance from Alotau town. For us to get to there, it would take some time to reach those places.” Police attempted to send a unit in to assess the situation, but the assailants blocked the roads leading to the areas to buy time for their escape. Barkie said there are now closely monitoring the situation.