A family is living in fear following a weekend incident at Tuvaruhu in which a man, armed with a brush knife, allegedly went on a rampage, destroying banana and other plants around the family house.
Kennedy Kwailobae – a crew member on the East Kwaio Constituency Landing Craft, Gulatatae 1, told Solomon Star yesterday the incident happened around 1pm on Saturday afternoon when the family, except him, was at home.
Mr. Kwailobae, said he received a telephone call from his family that someone who live in a nearby house had destroyed all the banana trees around the house by cutting them down.
“I was told that when family members went to the man’s house to find out why he did what he did, a group of men began hurling rocks at our family house, causing extensive damage to louvre glasses and the toilet pan in the toilet shed near our family house.
“I was told to come back to the house quickly as family members were very frightened,” Mr. Kwailobae said.
“I arrived back at the house around 1:30 that afternoon and began calling police immediately. I urge police to come to our aid and to assess the damage. What they told me was that police did not have a spare vehicle to attend to the incident.
“They told me the one vehicle they had has gone to pick up officers taking up their shift. I never gave up. I kept ringing Central Police station until 7:30pm on Saturday night. That’s the last time I called but no one came,” Mr. Kwailobae told Solomon Star.
“We are living in fear. We don’t even have a toilet to use. Surprisingly, the man who caused the damage to our family home was the same man who sold the land to us,” Mr. Kwailobae said.
The police attitude raised a lot of questions in my mind. For example, who in this country is entitled to protection from the police? Police attitude in my case also raises questions about the number of vehicles donated to police last year by Australia and China for the purpose of fighting crime.
“Who is using these vehicles and for what?
“Also I called police because this is the kind of incident that has the potential to trigger ethnic violence, especially at this time when the security environment is so volatile,” he said.
“We need answer from the police.”
By Alfred Sasako
