Instead of relying on the police, all business sectors up to embassies rely heavily on private security companies. Even, the security of Port Moresby Airport is held by G4S, a private company based in the UK.
By
Agustinus Wibowo
·4 minutes read
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
A car park in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
My first impression about this country was that it was actually very friendly. On the streets of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, the locals walked very slowly, as if they were holding onto all the time in the world. Some gathered together, happily playing with a kind of exotic furry animal that I had never seen before.
However, if it was observed more closely, all the big buildings with thick walls like forts were guarded by security officers who carried long rifles and big dogs. Large houses were also surrounded by high walls that were covered with coils of barbed wire or broken glass. Cars bearing SECURITY GUARD marks thronged the streets.
An aroma of danger blanketed the city.
***
“Security is the main business in this country,” said Kelwyn Browne, an Australian friend who picked me up at the airport.
Port Moresby\'s security is notoriously poor. Kel said, all foreigners certainly have a story about violence, or at least have acquaintances who experience it firsthand.
Instead of relying on the police, all business sectors up to embassies rely heavily on private security companies. Even, the security of Port Moresby Airport is held by G4S, a private company based in the UK.
The security sector can be said to be the largest provider of employment for city residents. A security officer is paid 200 kina (around Rp 1 million) every two weeks, but service users have to pay up to tens of thousands of kina to the security company.
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
Busy people and houses with high walls in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
High security costs make everything in this city expensive. The cheapest lodging in Port Moresby is also surrounded by fort-like walls and guarded by armed officers. The price reaches Rp 1 million a night for an inn-class room. This country is not a destination for backpackers.
As a consultant to the PNG ministry, Kel gets the facility of staying in a four-star hotel. But, don\'t imagine luxury. The room is cramped, with walls so thin that conversations in the next room could be heard clearly. There is no breakfast service, and the hotel\'s pool is only slightly larger than the family pool, the rate of stay is 750 kina (Rp 3.75 million) a night. Even Australia is also less expensive.
"Don\'t pay no attention to security here," a diplomat at the Indonesian Embassy in PNG warned me sternly. He did not recommend that I walk alone, take public transportation, or even take a taxi.
After six o\'clock in the afternoon, their cars go side by side in a convoy on their way home from work.
All Indonesian staff at the Indonesian Embassy always drive cars everywhere. After six o\'clock in the afternoon, their cars go side by side in a convoy on their way home from work. Even so, there is still the risk of a car being stoned or robbed in the middle of the road.
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
Papua New Guineans ride in open trucks in Port Moresby.
Security risks make Indonesian diplomats live close together in one complex. Worried about my safety, then-Indonesian ambassador Andreas Sitepu arranged for me to stay at the diplomat\'s house, which was next to the Ambassador\'s guest house.
Over the last several years Port Moresby has always been included in the ranks of the most uninhabitable cities in the world according to The Economist. In 2003, Port Moresby was even ranked the first out of 130 cities surveyed. On this list there were also Lagos (Nigeria) with its conflict chaos, Bogota (Colombia) with its narcotics mafia and Karachi (Pakistan) with its crime and terrorism.
The main problem in Port Moresby is the rise of criminals, which in the local language are called raskol. The word originates from the English rascal (bad boy). But, those raskol are far more terrifying than just naughty.
Actions of criminal gangs in this city range from robbery to rape. Raskol also do not hesitate to kill. According to a UK Home Office survey in 2004, the homicide rate in Port Moresby was three times higher than that of Moscow, 23 times that of London.
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
One of the corners of the city of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
At that time, the Education Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in Port Moresby, Didik Wisnu, had his own experience with raskol. On that unlucky afternoon, he had just come home from work and parked the car in his garage. As soon as he got out of the car, a man had a gun pointed at his head. Another man beside him also pointed a gun. Another unarmed man groped his body and took everything in his pocket.
Vishnu could only silently watch the robbers take his car away in front of his eyes. In this situation, life was much more valuable.
