After a successful end to the Special Police operations in West New Britain (WNB) Province, Provincial Police Commander, Peter Barkie is calling for the people of West New Britain to learn from the experiences of the past year and continue to strive for a better and law-abiding society in 2024. The PPC had nothing but praise for the people of WNB this festive period for being able to abide by the laws and restrictions that were set by both the Provincial Government and the police thus making sure that no major incidents or accidents occurred during the festive period. “My message as provincial Police Commander of WNB for 2024, I want us to be positive, I want us to learn from the experience of 2023.” “To hold onto the good things, learn our lessons from the bad things so that we don’t repeat those same mistakes this year, but we expand and build on the good things.” He told PNG HAUSBUNG that the WNB people are good people, but much like any other society, there are those that do not share the same sentiments with the majority, and these are the ones that end up causing trouble for the rest of the people. He said that there are already laws in place that protect the people but there is only a need for order. “For this year, I ask from the communities two things; Communities should take ownership of their issues.” “As much as possible, we address our issues at the community level we already have village courts and system in place.” “And those systems are traditional structures from our ancestors, down to our elders, down to our clan leaders down to our parents.” “And the political structure from the government to the Local Level Governments, and we also have our religious structures.” “I really believe that we must be proactive.” “We must prevent somethings from happening, rather than dealing with somethings when they grow out of our control.” PPC Barkie stated that he is optimistic and confident that this year will be a better year for the province in terms of peace and order and believes that by working together that they can achieve their shared goals.