The Governor of Hela in Papua New Guinea has called for the Australian Federal Police to work in his province.
Hela Province Tribesmen Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
Francis Potape's call came following the completion of the first phase of the police and military call-out operation in Hela.
At the end of last year, 300 police and military personnel were deployed to Hela after months of tribal fighting and a build-up of high-powered firearms.
Since the callout, police have conducted a province-wide drive to collect illegal firearms in Hela which is home to the lucrative LNG gas project.
An amnesty for tribes to surrender their guns ended yesterday - with initial police reports indicating at least partial success.
LNG Project facility, Hela Province, Papua New Guinea Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
EMTV reported Governor Potape as having said that moving forward, Hela needed more police manpower and a better direction with the use of AFP.
Potape believed having AFP in Hela's capital Tari would make a difference.
He said local police had been unsettled by changes in leadership and were under-resourced.
However, police in Hela had also been blamed for aiding warlords to smuggle guns into Hela.
