9-Mile alcohol ban on

By JUNIOR UKAHA

NCD metropolitan commander Supt  Joseph Tondop has placed a total ban on alcohol sale and consumption at the 9-Mile settlement outside Port Moresby, The National reports.
This follows the killing of John Sine Kaupa, the operations manager of Kuima Security Services, during an alcohol-related violence on Sunday.
Tondop warned the 2,000-plus settlers of portion 2219 Moitaka Ridge and the Tari community yesterday that anyone selling or consuming alcohol would be dealt with by his officers.
A drunken brawl between a Tari man and a Kuima Security guard ended in Kaupa's death, and later triggered off a fight between the Chimbu and Tari groups.
He said the ban would be in place as long as he was the city's police chief.
Community leader James Mogia promised Tondop and NCD operations chief executive Andy Bawa that anyone selling alcohol in the area would be reported to the police.
Kaupa, who was allegedly killed by the Taris, was believed to have been drunk when he took his shotgun and left to retrieve a company bus that was damaged by a group of men that morning.
His younger brother Anthon Kaupa, who flew in from Lae, Morobe, on Monday, said there was no need for further violence as the matter was in the hands of the police and those responsible for the killing of his brother would be brought to justice.
Tondop said the police had set up camp in the area and would try their best to get the two groups together to live peacefully in the area.
Meanwhile, it is believed that at least four high-powered guns were among weapons used in the ethnic clash, including two M16 assault rifles and pump-action shotguns.
Tondop admitted that guns were used in the fighting but he could not verify the type of weapons used.
"Reports we received is that guns were fired in the night but that could not be verified," he said.
All stores in the area including 9-Mile's Sigirap market had remained closed and no buses were operating in the area due to the tension.