Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

PNG minister vows action to curb gun smuggling

Posted at 06:39 on 28 October, 2010 UTC

The Internal Security Minister in Papua New Guinea is promising action within months to stop guns flooding into the country.

A transnational crime conference this week in Kokopo has been told gun smuggling is on the rise and this comes amid concern at the growing use of weapons by criminals, in tribal fights and in land disputes.

The Internal Security Minister, Sani Rambi, agrees that the presence of guns is a growing threat and he wants something done about it.

He’s formed a parliamentary committee that’s isolated 24 of the original ideas put forward by a gun control committee, including shutting down the smuggling of weapons into the country.

“We strongly believe that a lot of logging companies are bringing in guns. There’s a lot of guns that are crossing the border. It’s not coming through international flights or international shipping but a lot of other shipping companies, they’re engaged especially with the locals, are believed to be the people behind all of this. Like they are trading illegal drugs for firearms.”

Sani Rambi says he will be pushing for MPs to debate the gun issue before the end of this year or early next year.