One hundred police and their families have been left homeless in Lae after health authorities declared the Bumbu police barracks unfit for human habitation.

In an inspection carried out on Tuesday it was found the houses were infested with termites, there was a serious sewerage overflow and no power or water supplies. 

It is reported that the houses have received no major maintenance since they were constructed in the 1960's and two homes recently collapsed on top of sleeping families. 

On the same day that the barracks were closed and the families left homeless, 25 prisoners escaped from the Lae city police cells.

How can we expect our police to maintain law and order on the streets when they and their families are homeless?

And how can our government justifying spending over K100 million on a new government jet when 100 police families have been living in squalor?