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No Money To Fuel Up Police Vehicles Delays Response To Deadly Violence In PNG Province
Grace Tinetali-Fiavaai, RNZ Pacific Journalist
Hundreds of people are displaced after a massacre in remote Papua New Guinea and the province's governor says political problems are getting in the way of help.
East Sepik governor Allan Bird said the deployment of police into the area the attacks took place was delayed by a lack of fuel.
The attacks in three villages near the town of Angoram were reported to have left 26 dead, including women and children, though other sources have said the death toll could be double that.
The incident occurred on 16 July, and left almost 400 people displaced.
Bird told RNZ Pacific the PNG police are supposed to be funded by the national government; but there the East Sepik provincial government has had to help with funds to get more boots on the ground.
"The area where this incident occurred is quite remote ... one of the problems was that we did not have petrol in the province to move the police," he said.
"But the police have now moved in [and] hopefully in the next couple of days we have a clearer picture. We have decided to provide funding to support police. What that means is we pay for fuel, we pay for vehicles, we pay for allowances, whatever the police need in our province."
"We have so many structural problems in PNG and this is one of them. When we have problems in Enga province we face the same situation.
East Sepik has about 800 villages and is "bigger than Israel", Bird said, adding "but there are only around 160 police officers ... for 800,000 people."
He said political problems were costing those who need shelter and food.
He told ABC the situation of tribal violence was deteriorating and the "lack of justice is a problem".
'Government not really involved'
A group of about 30 people targeted the villages of Tamara, Tambari and Agrumara, near the town of Angoram.
The suspects are still at large, and some survivors have sought shelter in Angoram.
A villager from Angoram, Andrew Sangi, has been actively aiding his relatives and others affected by recent attacks.
Sangi told RNZ Pacific there were more than 300 people still stranded, hiding in the bushes, and more than 100 people had sought refuge in his village.
"There are no clothes, nothing to wear, nothing to hide. The government are not really actively involved here to solve this problem," he said.
He said they need more help with resources and shelter for people who had been displaced.
Meanwhile, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for PNG authorities to "conduct prompt, impartial and transparent investigations and ... ensure those responsible are held to account".
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