PNG government minister Belden Namah and his Housing and acting Internal Security colleague Andrew Kumbakor were told by villagers and PNG Defense Force personnel at Wutung in Vanimo, Sandaun province, that there had been numerous border incursions made by the Indonesians at the end of May, June and this month, with the latest being last Saturday and Sunday evening.
In one such incident, army personnel said the Indonesians defaced a cement PNG border monument at Wutung by spray-painting it with their 408 battalion symbol.
Angry PNG police and soldiers could not retaliate as there were no specific rules of engagement in place. Instead, all they could do was face the Indonesians and order them to leave PNG soil.
The ministers and Sandaun Gov. Simon Solo were in Vanimo to get a first-hand briefing from provincial government officials, police and PNG Defense Force personnel on the ground on these illegal crossings.
The parliamentarians were taken to Wutung to talk to the villagers and shown the locations where fully armed Indonesian soldiers had crossed over into PNG territory.
Reports said that on June 28, seven PNGDF soldiers led by Sgt Francis Kure met an armed Indonesian battalion and their commander and senior officers about 600 meters inside PNG territory and 100 meters from Wutung village and ordered them to retreat.
“They also defaced the PNG border monument by spray-painting their battalion’s 408 sign on it,” Kure said.
A proposed joint border meeting has been deferred for two years. Of the 59 PNGDF soldiers in Vanimo, a platoon of 25 personnel goes on a rotation basis for two weeks to be based at Wutung.
