2024-01-11 06:52:02
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — Papua New Guinea’s government was trying to restore order Thursday after at least 15 people were killed during rioting and looting that left the country’s two main cities in flames.
Unrest began in the capital, Port Moresby, on Wednesday after hundreds of police, soldiers, prison officers and civil servants walked off the job in protest over a pay dispute.
The Papuan government attributed the salary cut to an administrative failure.
Similar disturbances also caused damage in Lae, the second-largest city in the southwestern Pacific nation. The public broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that at least 15 people died in the two cities.
Another 180 defense personnel arrived in Port Moresby on Thursday.
Tensions in the country have increased due to high unemployment and the rising cost of living.
Prime Minister James Marape said the capital was “under tension and duress” but added that the violence had subsided.
“The police did not work in the city yesterday and people resorted to lawlessness, not everyone, but certain parts of our city,” Marape said at a news conference Thursday. ”(The) situation report this morning shows that tension in the city has subsided.”
Many stores and banks were closed Thursday as store owners repaired damage.
Papua New Guinea is a diverse and developing country, made up mostly of subsistence farmers and where around 800 languages are spoken. It is in an area of strategic importance in the South Pacific. With 10 million inhabitants, it is the most populated nation in the region behind Australia.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for calm and said his government had not received a request for help from its nearest neighbor. Both nations signed a bilateral security pact last month.
Papua New Guinea is trying to contain a rise in tribal violence and civil unrest in remote areas and its long-term goal is to increase its police force from 6,000 to 26,000.
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