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City authority staff
evicted from office
By SENT TIMBI
STAFF of the Mt Hagen City authority were evicted from their offices
after the authority failed to pay outstanding rental bills for a
property they were leasing.
It is believed the outstanding rentals that had accumulated over 15
years stands at around K600,000.
But the city authority hit back saying the landlord of the property owed
them more than K500,000 in garbage bills and trading licence fees it had
allegedly not paid.
City manager Richard Culligan and his boss Lord Mayor Lukas Mek have
been operating without an office since Friday when they were evicted.
The Western Highlands provincial government and the current landlord had
been at loggerhead over the issue of the said property resulting in a
lengthy legal dispute.
Mr Culligan said he had approached Melpa Properties Limited, the
business arm of WHPG to lease one of their properties.
But he said the property they were allocated had its locks changed
allegedly by supporters of Governor Tom Olga.
“If the governor’s response is not good, I’ll forcefully move in. If
they don’t want me there, then I’ll bring all septic trucks, dump
trucks, tractors and other machinery and dump them at Kapal Haus until
they show me where to operate,” a frustrated Mr Culligan said.
He said the city authority was an extended arm of the government and
must be treated as such.
The landlord, who did not want to be named, said that the city authority
did not meet their obligation so they forced them out.
 
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