PNG’s capital top cop gearing up for busy year ahead
Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby is routinely ranked high on international lists of the most dangerous cities.
But despite its law and order challenges, Moresby is also a place of growth which has a lot going on – from cultural and sporting events to business activity.
RNZ Pacific caught up with the capital’s Metropolitan Superintendent Warrick Simatab, a senior officer who believes in the potential of the national capital but has his hands full.
With several major events on the horizon, including the general election next year and the Moresby-based PNG Chiefs joining Australia’s NRL rugby league competition in 2028, he is working to ensure the city has the right security conditions in place.
Community policing
Simatab said the city is growing fast with many migrants from other parts of the country, which is a challenge because it adds to social pressures.
He said the constabulary is managing okay and has more resources than in previous times in order to do its work.
“We are putting our strategies in place, especially now, instead of reactive policing we are focussing on proactive policing,” he said.
“We have created the neighbourhood programmes, community policing. We have the city wardens, these are some of the successful programmes that youths and people are supporting police in terms of community policing.
Port Moresby Night Market
RNZ Pacific / Johnny Blades
“That is gradually improving law and order. People are taking ownership, and they are also participating in addressing law and order.”
Liveable city
Warrick Simatab told RNZ Pacific the goal is to make Moresby a liveable and safe city for everyone, both locals and those who come from other countries to work and invest.
“I’m also focusing on tourism. I want to portray to the world that Port Moresby is a beautiful city, to welcome people to come in and invest.
The Metropolitan Superintendent said that PNG wants to support investor confidence, and that police play a role in that effort.
He noted that there are a range of development partners who work in Moresby and that they want a “return on investment and tangible outcomes”.
“On the PNG Chiefs, yes, this is a long-term plan and part of our tourism operation security plan is to lay a good foundation for people to come and see the games.”
Drought-scarred remains of Port Moresby’s 2-Mile settlement in August 2026, after the community was evicted at the start of the year.
RNZ Pacific / Johnny Blades
Tough conditions
Around the start of the year, police were involved with evicting communities in one or two illegal land settlements in the city, difficult operations that in one case resulted in deadly violence.
The Metropolitan Superintendent denied that the evictions were part of a drive to clean-up Moresby before the PNG Chiefs start hosting games, adding that police were following court orders as is their mandated job to do.
But with Moresby’s settlement communities bursting at the seams as the city’s population mushrooms, social challenges also grow.
Simatab said that El Niño, which has brought severe drought to the region, has been a challenge for the National Capital District too.
“Some of the people coming into the city, these are people experiencing the effects of climate change and El Niño.
“We also have strategies in place to address El Niño and drought,” he said, adding that government authorities are prepared for the drought conditions to extend for months.
Above all, Warrick Simatab said Port Moresby has its challenges but is a dynamic city that locals and visitors could enjoy.
Metropolitan Superintendent Warrick Simatab
RNZ Pacific / Johnny Blades
