Minister of Defence Win Bakri Daki announced today, the invoking of Section 51 of the Defence Act 1974 and the Amended Defence Act 2009 to establish a General Board of Inquiry into the Kupiano tragedy.
The incident is the first of its kind training mishap in the PNGDF which took the lives of two soldiers and a soldier and civilian were injured.
The inquiry will examine the administration, systems and processes of conduct of the military training in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.
The Investigation Report commissioned by the Commander of the PNGDF will form the basis of the General Board of Inquiry.
Minister Daki stated that he will convene the General Board of Inquiry within (7) seven working days — after the completion of the Investigation Report, by way of Written Notice, specifying the Terms of Reference (TOR), including the appointment of the Chairman and members of the Board.
“I wish to reaffirm Chief of Defence Force’s earlier statement to the media that the Board of Inquiry will look at the wider context of which the tragedy occurred and whether systematic failures contributed to the tragic incident. It is our responsibility to exercise the duty of care for the soldiers and their families by taking steps to examine every aspect of our Standard Operating Procedures to ensure incidences such as Kupiano incident do not occur again,” Minister Daki said.
He added, “I have also instructed the Chief of Defence Force to ensure soldiers implicated in the Kupiano tragedy remain in the custody of the Military Police, and not discharged from the Force until the completion of the intent and purpose of the Board of Inquiry.”
Minister Daki passed his condolences to the families and comrades of the deceased and reaffirmed his earlier commitment to provide support to the recovery of the two people injured.
