PAITA RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT THE “NEW TREND” OF ORGANISED GANGS- OBT
BY CHARLIE DUMAVI
The increasing number of organized gangs in the country is concerning, says Morobe Governor Rainbo Paita, as the capital of his province, Lae, continues to battle against the infamous ‘OBT’ gang.
Paita raised a question without notice to the Police Minster, Sir John Pundari today in the parliament saying, “do we have a plan to stop this?”
He said the so called “Operation Brukim Tulait” (OBT) is the same as the gang in Oro province that call themselves, I Don’t Care.
“Minister through you, what is our plan to curb this attitude, where people are organizing themselves into gangs?” Paita asked.
“One of the biggest issues we face now is law and order. My question is directed to the issue of organized gangs. PNG does not experience organized crimes before, but now you can see the people are starting to mobilize into groups and becoming mobs, we have the outbreak of the OBT gang similar to I Don’t Care gang in Oro. This gangs move around in huge numbers over hundred to two hundred people moving around and ransacking places. This is spreading, so my question to police minister is what are we going to do?”
In response, Police Minster Sir John Pundari stressed that the domestic terrorism act is in place and he warned the public not to be involved in the organized gangs.
“I want to warn you all: if you try to organize yourselves into gangs, you must know that the arms of the government and the law are already there. In the process, some of you have lost your lives. Stop this nonsense!”
“There is no benefit in it. The government and the police will come hard on you. You must know that we have enough laws including the Terrorism Act.”
In recent months, OBT gangs have moved from Lae to Madang and the police including the general public have been organized to stand against it.
