Phone Outage Delays Responses

A police station switchboard problem has delayed responses for three months in Lae, the second-largest city of Papua New Guinea (South Pacific), and emboldened thieves who know the public can’t call for help. Police said a group of armed youths stormed a house last week at mid-morning and stole all its household items, including a washing machine, TV set and clothing worth about $698. The wife telephoned the police station but couldn’t reach anyone. She then telephoned her husband at work, who walked to the police station, and officers arrived about 30 minutes after the thieves left. Police in the town of 120,000 said they also have power outages that affect their radio system. A local newspaper said, “Attempts to speak to Telikom (phone company) staff were passed from one office to another without success.”