By Jack Lapauve Jr – EMTV News, Port Moresby
Former Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defense Force (PNGDF), retired Major General, Jerry Singirok, says the situation in Hela cannot be resolved by short term State of Emergency. He said the SOEs are resource draining and take away police and military from other core functions.
It has been 13 years, since the former PNG Defense Force Commander handed over the Guns control committee report to the government. It contains more than 240 recommendations as well as strategies on how to tackle the gun problem.
The report was produced with the help of the United Nations (UN). For six months, a technical expert worked with the retired Major General to collect data and understand why guns were in the possession of people involved in crime.
The gun report was presented to the then Somare-led Government in 1995. Singirok said the report recommends different strategies for different communities with a lot of attention going to the disarming tribal groups in possession of assault weapons.
The ongoing clashes in Hela and the Southern Highlands provinces have again brought the gun debate to the fore with Major General Singirok calling for immediate implementation of the Guns Control report.
Meanwhile, retired Major General Jerry Singirok urged the Government to implement the 244 recommendations submitted in the National Gun report. Singirok says the report has been ignored for too long, while the country is seeing gun-related issues on the rise.
