Fixing the police housing shortage is solving one part of a bigger problem in Papua New Guinea
Editor
Posted On March 9, 2024
Flavia Marian and Roselyn Kolmal, are both wives of policemen who don’t have the benefit of police housing. They, and their husbands, are living in rundown dormitories of an old college owned by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) at 3-Mile in Lae.
The space is cramped. They live in cubicle is designed for two students. There are 17 other police families who live in the other rooms. They share a common pit toilet and they haven’t had running water for several years.
Roselyn’s husband, a constable with Lae’s Sector Response Unit (Unit) transferred from Simbu Province. Flavia met her husband in Lae. As members of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC), their husbands, couldn’t speak without authorization.
The rate of communicable diseases is high. Flavia’s eldest son contracted TB soon in 2003. She believes the crowded, cramped living areas contributed to the spread of the disease.
“He became very sick last year. We went back and forth to the hospital until he was diagnosed with TB. He just finished nine months of medication,” she said.
Police Housing: Not many alternatives
The shortage of institutional housing at the existing barracks forced the families to seek this alternative. For many of the policemen and women, they can’t afford to pay rent on their current salaries.
And… many have opted to live here because of security concerns for their families and themselves.
“A policeman is, potentially, a public enemy,” Flavia said. It is better for them to live close to other members or in a barracks.”
In the last 10 years, there have been various attacks on members of the constabulary in the communities they work in. In 2018, Senior Constable Ben Melvin, died from stab wounds when when he and three others attended to at complaint at Hobu, outside of Lae City.
It’s just one example of the high risks of policing in Papua New Guinea.
While communities are generally respectful, police have had their vehicles stoned and shot at on numerous occasions.
A cop who didn’t want to be named said:” “Sometimes when we work late, it’s just too dangerous to drop off members if they live deep in a settlement.”
Police numbers and an expanding population
Towards the end of 2023, police and city authorities evicted hundreds of squatters from land near the Bumbu police barracks in Lae.
They had been residing there for over 10 years. The settlement had slowly expanded to the other side of the main road to land belonging to the National Polytechnic Institute. It was one of many settlements that had grown on government land.
The shortage of land, the lack of affordable accommodation caused by an influx of people into towns and cities has stretched the resources of the Royal Papua New Guinea constabulary.
Acting Assistant Police Commissioner for the Northern Division, Chis Kunyanban, has seen settlement growth spiral out of control in the last 15 years. He said police numbers have not kept up with the growth.
Tribal conflicts and displaced people
Many of the people who have come to Lae more recently are from provinces in the highlands that have ongoing tribal conflicts. Lae, Port Moresby and Mt. Hagen have become havens for many wanting to get away for the violence.
In Lae, it is difficult to say just how many people have arrived in the last five years. But throughout the country, police say the growth of new settlements and the noticeable rise in petty crimes at the bus stops and markets are an indication that there are more people choosing to settle in towns and cities far away from the tribal conflicts.
“I can show you women who have fled with their families,” said Cathy Alex, a social entrepreneur and women’s advocate working in Hela Province.
Cathy Alex was one of three women kidnapped last year with Kiwi Archaeologist, Professor Bryce Parker. Over time, she has found herself having to deal with displaced families fleeing violence.
“In 2016, we complied a report that showed that up to 100,000 were displaced from the Tagali Local Level Government area alone.
“In 2016, we complied a report that showed that up to 100,000 were displaced from the Tagali Local Level Government area (Hela Province) alone.”
Cathy Alex, Social entrepreneur
“That number has gone up. We had a meeting recently in Port Moresby and I am told that there are some 20,000 women and children from Hela who have come to Port Moresby. They’re living on the streets… some in Erima, Hohola. “There are reports of children walking to Lae to get away from the violence.”
Housing and police numbers
Acting ACP Kunyanban, who has been the Lae Metropolitan Commander, for last five years, points out that when there is a conflict in the Highlands, there is a noticeable spike in the number of people coming into Lae.
But he plagued with the existing accommodation and staff shortage and worries about the future.
“If I can’t accommodate my men and women, I can’t demand more from them. Their minds are not on the job,”he said. “I’ve had instances where a policeman can’t come to work because he is out buying timbers to fix his broken house so his family will be comfortable.
