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Wenge opposes costs
to public
By JASON SOM KAUT
COSTS of road repairs should not be passed onto the public, Morobe
Governor Luther Wenge said yesterday.
Responding to plans by the Lae business community to pass the high costs
of vehicle maintenance onto the general public, Mr Wenge revealed that
K25 million had been committed under the supplementary budget for road
repairs in the city.
The budget would be handed on Sept 18th.
Last week provincial leaders including Mr Wenge and Lae Open MP Bart
Philemon vowed to forget their differences and work together to fix
Lae’s deteriorating road network.
The roads and Angau hospital are the main topics of discussions when Mr
Wenge meets with Lae lord mayor James Khay and his officers this
morning.
Developments are being watched very closely as Lae roads have been a
nagging problem due to the city’s high all-year-round rainfall and
neglect by appropriate authorities.
Most parts of the city are water-logged when it rains.
“The cost of road repairs should not be passed onto the public because
the people had a low income base and were already overtaxed without
seeing any increments in pay,” he said.
Recently, Mr Wenge pushed for the roads to be cemented in the hope that
they would last longer.
Morobe leaders have also been pushing for Lae to be given ‘commission
status’ and enable them to see its budget ceiling increased to cater for
road maintenance and other civic needs.
“I have been fighting for what is collected in Lae to remain in Lae,” he
said.
Currently, Lae makes between K200 million and K300 million for the
country through taxes and receives only K38million of this annually.
“Lae has been paying millions to the State and now is time for the State
to provide the money to fix our roads. The Government is doing that with
the promise to release the first K25 million,” Mr Wenge said.
 
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