PNG Bomana Centre To Train 50 Vanuatu Police Recruits

PORT MORESBY will host 50 Vanuatu police recruits next year under a new training arrangement designed to bring the two Pacific police forces closer together, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) says.

Police Commissioner David Manning taking Vanuatu Police representatives on a tour of the Bomana Centre of Excellence training facilities. (Image: Supplied)

A Vanuatu Police Force delegation has been received in PNG as both sides prepare for the recruits to begin a six-month programme at the PNG Centre of Excellence at Bomana.

The training will be jointly conducted by PNG and Vanuatu instructors, with recruits expected to train alongside RPNGC personnel as part of the programme.

Police Commissioner David Manning said the arrangement would expose the Vanuatu recruits to domestic policing practices while helping them gain a better understanding of law enforcement across national borders.

He said the contacts developed during the training could also become important professional links when police from Pacific countries are required to work together on regional operations.

“The Pacific is facing increasingly complex threats from transnational criminal organisations who seek to exploit vulnerabilities across our region,” Manning said.

“Pacific police forces are working together to prevent our countries from being used as transit points for illicit drugs, weapons, laundered money, human trafficking and other organised criminal activity.”

Manning said PNG had continued to strengthen its policing relationship with Australia through operational partnerships that had also extended to countries such as Vanuatu.

The RPNGC-Vanuatu training programme was among issues discussed by police ministers when they met in Port Vila in July.

Manning said the initiative would develop the professional abilities of Vanuatu recruits while creating stronger working relationships between the two police organisations.

He said the programme also highlighted what could be achieved through greater cooperation among Pacific police forces as countries respond collectively to emerging regional threats.