BY MATTHEW VARI

THE influx of motorcycles into West Sepik Province from across the Indonesian border is creating headaches for law enforcement agencies as many have been brought across illegally and without proper registration and licensing.

A trip to Vanimo police station gives any visitor a visible indication of how much the issue has been tackled by authorities considering the array of motorcycles, especially scooters, adorned the front of the local station.

Provincial police commander Moses Ibsegi said apart from the bikes confiscated out front, two additional 20-foot shipping containers behind the station are filled with more than 200 bikes.

“This is the transnational crime where we don’t know if it is being stolen on the other side and sold over here or smuggled into here that cannot be established at the moment,” Ibsegi said.

He said apart from that the bikes have been the cause of a lot of the road accidents that occur in the province and town area.

“Most of these people are unlicensed and most of these motorbikes are unregistered and there are so many traffic accidents involving motorbikes with motor vehicles.

“You find them crashing because they are not trained to ride a motorbike. Most of them are riding these scooters and once they are chased by police you can see how inexperienced they are when they try to run and they leave their bikes while they are still running,” he said. He said most of the culprits from traditional border villages of Wutung and Musu disregard the laws as they take on the habits of relatives on the other side that disregard the use of helmets and licences.

“It is a challenge for us. Time and time again we advise them to understand that they are not on the other side.

“We keep reminding them to bear in mind that we have laws and regulations that control road users.

“If you are using a public road you must wear helmet and have a license and all these things. The young people are the ones that don’t heed our warning,” Ibsegi said.