BISHOP CONDEMNS TRIBAL FIGHT DAMAGE TO HEALTH POST AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES
CAPTION: Wabag Catholic Diocese Bishop Justin Ain Soongie
By MORTIMER YANGHARRY
WABAG Catholic Diocese Bishop Justin Ain Soongie has strongly condemned the burning and destruction of the Porea Community Health Post, near Surinki in the Lagaip District of Enga Province.
“It is deeply disturbing and unacceptable that facilities built for the benefit of ordinary people—including health centers, aid posts, schools, churches, roads and bridges—continue to become victims of tribal conflicts. These facilities do not belong to one tribe or one group of people. They are community assets established for the benefit of everyone, including children, women, the elderly and future generations,” Bishop Soongie said.
He said that it does not make sense for people to destroy the very services that are provided for their own benefit.
Bishop Soongie and the Catholic Diocese of Wabag is now calling upon the relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate the destruction of the Porea Community Health Post and other public and community facilities destroyed during tribal conflicts.
“Those responsible must be identified, investigated, and, where there is sufficient evidence, arrested and prosecuted according to law,” Bishop Soongie said.
He is proposing to the government that where perpetrators remain at large and tribal leaders have failed to cooperate in identifying those responsible, the Government should consider appropriate measures to hold responsible community and tribal leaders accountable in accordance with the law as traditional and community leaders have an important responsibility to prevent violence and to protect public facilities within their areas.
“There is also an urgent need for stronger laws and enforcement measures to protect schools, health facilities, churches and other essential public infrastructure from destruction during tribal conflicts. Destroying a school or health facility must not be treated simply as another consequence of a tribal fight. Such destruction directly harms innocent people and undermines the Government’s, Churches’ and and other development partners’ efforts to provide basic services,” Bishop Soongie said.
The Porea Community Health Post is partly destroyed and has been indefinitely closed, which will greatly affect the basic health services of more than 20,000 people of the Surinki local level government area in the new Lagaip District.
