Port Moresby in shut down mood following Wednesday lawlessness

Hours of lawlessness on Wednesday has turned the buzzing city of Port Moresby to a ghost town this morning.

The normal business rush and crowds at the bus stops was not visible, as majority of the nation's capital residents opted for the safety of their homes and PMV buses not operating in fear of the breakdown of law and order experienced on Wednesday after members of the police force refused to work following a pay cut for public servants this week.

The looting of business houses and the burning down of some of them has prompted the National Executive Council [NEC] to approve the call out of PNG Defense Force to assist police restore order in the city.

"NEC has made a decision for defense call out to assist police tonight [Wednesday and onwards] until we restore order in the city, " Prime Minister James Marape said.

The prime minister made a desperate appeal to citizens to protect the capital city and assured "the police and public servant grievances are being addressed and by next pay the lost salary will be restored."

"All genuine police force members are encouraged to report to duty, your concerns are being heard."

In a media statement, the Finance Department said that the pay cut experienced by thousands of government employees was because the government payroll [Alesco] was not updated to the new tax-free threshold of K20,000 but was "systematically automated back to K17,500."

And confirmed that all public servants will be back paid in the second pay day.

Meanwhile, Internal Revenue Commission [IRC] Chief Commissioner Sam Koim said there is no tax increase for this year.

"The dependency rebates eliminated by Parliament last year had not been effected yet, so claims that the pay cut is due to the removal of dependency rebates are unfounded."

A statement released by Department of Personnel Management [DPM] secretary says that "the internal memo dated 9th January 2024 which was circulated internally in DPM went viral on social media was for internal consumption.

And "there is no tax increase on public servant salaries," Ms Sansan said.