Lae and Morobe province going to the dogs!

By DAN YANSOM

Our beloved Lae City and Morobe province is about to go to the dogs because of lack of leadership we have for the province.

I was in Lae last week (haven’t been there for about two years) and oh boy!

 The roads are a driver’s nightmare.

Whilst there, I was adequately informed by a fellow Morobean that the road past LFA and Lae Technical College was reconstructed and sealed about a year ago, but look at it now, it is riddled with potholes despite a deep drainage running along its length.

This stretch of road was reconstructed by a contractor without the supervision of Lae City Authority’s Engineering Division.

Two pictures are attached for your viewing.

 Also, on Radio Morobe over the weekend, Honorable Sam Basil and Bart Philemon went on air telling Morobeans that it would cost about K60 million to fix the Lae roads (both the national and provincial sections).

Sadly, the Lae City Authority only has an annual budget of K8 million to carry out all its functions including road maintenance.

This is definitely a sorry state of affairs for Lae City which I hope our four MPs in Government (three are Cabinet Ministers) have noted and will argue on the province’s behalf to get the necessary funding.

Despite the millions of kina Lae City and Morobe generates for the national purse, we have always been given a raw deal in terms of infrastructure development because of political divisions by our elected leaders.

 I wish to also share some light on an issue which I thought everyone needs to know.

A recent discussion with some friends from Eastern Highlands is that an economic advisor in their province is proposing a white paper to be presented to government to register goods and services tax (GST) generated from resources extracted/developed in their province against their provincial tally.

This data will then be used in negotiations with government for project fundings for their six provincial electorates.

 For example, GST generated from electricity supplied by Yonki Power Station will be registered in Eastern Highlands and not Lae City (or Morobe Province).

 On a more brighter note, there are signs of developments taking place in Lae City especially with new residential blocks/units being built as well as new warehouses, motels/inns, and factories.

There is also an effort to fix the roads however, this has been somewhat slow either because of funding limitations or lack of contractors capacities.

 It is not all doom and gloom for our beloved Lae City, and we demand the Lae City Authority, PNG Power, and PNG Water Board, to play their part in maintaining the city’s essential services for the benefit of city residents and industries as well as rural Morobeans who depend on the city.