A lack of fuel for police vehicles in Papua New Guinea province has delayed police response to deadly violence

An aerial view of East Sepik Province in the Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea.
photo: Dozier Mark/Hemis Image credit: AFP

East Sepik Governor Allan Bird said police have been deployed to the area. Deadly Massacre The flight was delayed due to lack of fuel.

Violent attacks in three villages near the town of Angolam in East Sepik Province reportedly left 26 people dead, including women and children.

But the death toll could be double the number reported for the July 16 incident, with nearly 400 people displaced, according to reports.

Bird told New Zealand’s Pacific Radio that the PNG police force is supposed to be funded by the national government; but the East Sepik provincial government must provide financial help to send more police officers to the area.

“The location where the incident took place is quite remote… One of the problems is that we don’t have enough petrol in the province to mobilize police,” he said.

“But the police are now in (and) hopefully in the next few days we will have a clearer picture. We have decided to provide funding to support the police. That means we will pay for fuel, vehicles, allowances, anything that our provincial police need.”

“There are many structural problems in Papua New Guinea and this is one of them. When we had problems in Enga Province, we were facing the same situation.

Bird said East Sepik has about 800 villages, “which is bigger than Israel,” adding, “But there are only about 160 police officers for 800,000 people.”

He said political issues were putting people in need of housing and food in jeopardy.

He told the ABC that tribal violence was worsening and “lack of justice was an issue”.

(Archive photo)
photo: RNZ/Johnny Blaze

‘The government wasn’t really involved’

The attackers, a group of about 30 people, attacked the villages of Tamara, Tambari and Agrumara near the town of Angoram.

The suspects are still at large and some of the survivors have sought refuge in Angola.

Andrew Sangi, a villager from Angolam, is actively assisting his relatives and others affected by the recent attacks.

Sangi told New Zealand’s Pacific Radio that more than 300 people were still trapped in the bush and more than 100 had entered his village seeking shelter.

“There’s no clothes, nothing to wear, nothing to hide. The government isn’t really actively engaged in addressing this issue,” he said.

He said they need more resources and help with shelter for those displaced.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on Papua New Guinea authorities to “conduct a prompt, impartial and transparent investigation and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”