A Ghanaian, from Nkoranza, William Asoi, 31, was arrested and then granted bail for living in Papua New Guinea (PNG) for 14 years without a passport and a visa.

The local police chief, Giosi Labi, believes bail should not be granted to people arrested for being in PNG illegally.

Mr Labi said there are no guarantees they would turn up in court to face the charges. He made the comment after several foreigners arrested and charged in Lae for being illegally in the country were released on bail.

Mr Labi said he was disappointed with the district court?s decision. Yesterday, senior magistrate Posain Poloh released an American and the Ghanaian on K200 bail.

The two have been living at 14-Mile outside Lae for more than 14 years without passport and visa.

Asoi and MacDonald Zito, 41, from Brooklyn, USA, were released on bail although they did not produce a passport or a visa before the court.

While granting bail, Mr Poloh said the two accused have been living in PNG for more than 14 years and could not be considered a threat to the country.

?They are not terrorists because they have married local women, have children and they have a permanent residence there,? he said.

Public Prosecutor Hove Genderiso had argued that the two have not produced any passport and visa to convince the court to allow them bail.

However, Mr Poloh further stated that under the Bail Act a person is entitled to bail unless in the cases of wilful murder, treason and armed robbery. The two men were arrested on Jan 11 and appeared briefly before the court last week.

Their case was adjourned after their lawyer asked court to defer the case for another 14 days to gather more documents.

The court also granted K200 bail to a Chinese national, an Indonesian and a Filipino and they will appear in court again on Jan 24.