Police in Western Highlands have dispatched a team to investigate and arrest suspects involved in the oil spill at the Kagamuga airport runway in Mt Hagen.
Western Highlands 2022 Election Operations Commander, Superintendent John Sagom, confirmed that suspects entered the Kagamuga airport in the early hours of Tuesday and spilled oil on the airport tarmac causing airline operators to suspend all flights into and out of Mt Hagen.
Mr Sagom condemned the act saying it is an act of “terrorism” and vowed to investigate the incident thoroughly and arrest those involved.
“This is an act of terrorism. We will get to the bottom of this. I’m calling on the general public to come forward with any information that will assist the police arrest and charge those who are responsible for this act of terrorism.
He added that on Tuesday morning a group of disgruntled members of the community staged a peaceful protest to Kagamuga airport, while another group staged a protest march to Newtown along the Okuk Highway, blocking off commuters traveling into Mt Hagen town from the upper highlands.
Superintendent Sagom said the Police and Papua New Guinea Defence Force personnel contained the situation.
The protesters aired their grievances over the appointment and handling of the Mt Hagen Open Returning Officer’s post.
Commander Sagom called on the leaders to respect the democratic election process to take place and appealed to them to take control of the situation and work with the security forces to ensure such acts of terrorism does not occur again.