PNG: Police injured in stone throwing brawl
Updated
Papua New Guinea police are investigating a rock throwing brawl during a fire in which several policemen were injured in the PNG highlands. P-N-G's Highlands Police Commander, Simon Kauba says looters threw rocks and missiles at policemen who tried to stop them from stealing goods from two burning shops during the incident on Thursday.
Presenter: Firmin Nanol
NANOL: The township of Mt Hagen in P-N-G's Western highlands province was thrown into a chaotic scene, for several hours as police clashed with rock throwing looters who tried to take advantage of a burning shop.
PNG Fire officers say two shops were completely gutted by fire with stores goods estimated at over one million US dollars.
The shops were being leased to an Asian couple selling cheap Asian products.
P-N-G's Highlands police Commander Simon Kauba says police fired warning shots and tear gas canisters at looters, and several businesses and government offices were closed.
He says the situation has calmed down but expressed anger that several policemen were injured in the ordeal.
KAUBA: One was stoned with a big rock. I think that rock landed on left eye, of the face and seriously bruised. I don't know whether he lost any teeth, but the report I'm getting is he's nursing his injury and I kind of become disappointed with the general public's attitude. But, police did a tremendous job, preventing what could have been very nasty situations. They could have gone to the nearby stores and looted other stores are not really subject to the burning. Police did what they could. Yeah, but yeah, I mean that didn't sound good, but I mean you get that kind of treatment from people who are upset about us trying to protect, prevent looting and protect properties eh. People should have respect for that, when we are trying to do our jobs, but that's the way things are and the owners of the property are now securing their properties and they're organising their own security measures now as we speak. Some shops in the cities are closed. Those who are located within the vicinity of the burning site.
NANOL: P-N-G's Acting Chief Fire Officer, Sam Kerry says the Mt Hagen Fire officers could have prevented the buildings from being destroyed completely had there was enough water pressure.
KERI : We had the equipment and everything, but water supply was very low. So it took us a long time. We contacted the Water Board to shut down other areas, so that sufficient pressure is going towards that and that was a bit of delay. We would have done more than what we did had we had water pressure. I mean our men managed to confine that fire from spreading to other buildings and that's what we supposed to do and we successfully did that, preventing it from spreading.
NANOL: In the last couple of years, several shops in major urban areas, leased or owned by people of Asian origin were destroyed by fire.
The PNG Fire Service claims Asian shop owners do renovations and or extensions to existing buildings without any approval from the PNG Building Board, and build kitchens in kai bars, which often pose as fire hazard.
The PNG Fire service is investigating the cause of the fire that destroyed the two shops in P-N-G's Western Highland province.
Firmin Nanol-Port Moresby.
