1. I think it would of made a nice garden feature
The last few weeks a lot has happened around town with the recount of the provincial governor’s election (the election that casued a lockdown earlier in the year). I have witnessed and heard a lot of things during this time. It has been hard to post something, that isn’t too negative, but also which isn’t normal to me, as things here seem normal for me. But this story made it quite easy to think of something to post.
2. On lookers and the damaged fences.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, well around 0600 I was in a real deep sleep. To be awaken by a very loud metal smashing crushing noise. I normally sleep through anything when I am really tired, even gunshots. But this woke me up, my first thoughts as I woke up were that someone had rammed our security gate and was inside our compound. Thinking that this could be some attack and this is it. As I got out of bed I wait and listen to hear movement and vioces. But hear nothing and as I look outside through my houseamtes window, I see what has happened. A PMV (a public vehicle-bus or van) had crashed through our compound fence and dropped down a retaining wall.
3. The driver with his face blurred
As I looked outside I looked in disbelief, and as I was still waking up I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming. I had been prepared and expected things to happen round town with the election recount. But I had not expected this, particularly early Sunday morning. By the time I got outside, my compound neighbour was outside, along with the neighbouring compound neighbours onlooking. The driver, his Boscrew (assistant) and any passengers were out of the vehicle, with already a crowd of on lookers looking through the fence. According to one of my other neighbours who was one of the first to the scene. Had found people already coming into the compound to try and get parts off the van. He had to tell them to get out of the compound.
4. Watch the garden
Fortunately no one was injured in anyway, something that we are really thanking God for. The driver was drunk, along with the other passengers in the van. They had been driving through out the entire night from Madang which is about 10 hours drive from the coast. As he had come round the corner, he was asleep at the wheel and drove straight through our compound fence with some speed. Which is made up of two fences, one with metal poles in concrete. The driver was so out of it, he thought that a few of us could lift the van back up to drive away. As my neighbour talked to the crowd on looking, my other neighbours went about talking/attending to the driver and trying to contact the police. In the end phone contact could be not made. So in the end two of us drove to the police station to get the police. Thinking that we would be sitting around for hours waiting, they arrived some time later. To find out their phone line had been cut earlier in the week.
5. We were glad our rain water tank was not damaged
We were able to do a temp fix on the fence in the meantime and two secuirty guards were called in. After all this comotion I really wanted to get back to bed. So I was able to reurn to bed and get a little bit of sleep. Resolving the incident when on through out the day, involving the MAF Property Manager, the Police, the driver sobering up and the owner of the PMV. Come Monday afternoon returning from work that evening, the van had been recovered and the fence being rebuilt in it’s final stages. So there is some more action for you, PNG is truly the land of the unexpected.
