By JAMES APA GUMUNO
MT Hagen city manager Richard Culligan is appealing to leaders living around the city to educate the people to show some respect for the city.
Mr Culligan said people must have pride in the third city and look after it by not littering, committing petty crimes, sit on the lawns and respect the public properties.
Mr Culligan said this after many people expressed grave concern that the city was no longer safe and littered with rubbish.
“I have played my part to reduce crime and control street vendors in the city but the so-called landowners are the ones doing all sort of criminal activities in the city and portray the bad image,” he said.
He said that landowners even went to the extreme of attacking his workers when they go around stopping illegal activities in the city.
He said that the people must not blame the city authority for the mess created in the city but blame leaders from the surrounding communities for not controlling their people and teach them how to do the right things.
He said when his men apprehended lawbreakers, these offenders mobilised their men and went to his office and threatened his workers.
He said that the people had an attitude problem and leaders really need to talk to their people about the importance of the city and how they would look after it.
He said that the city authority was financially handicapped after the land taxes power was removed from them by the national court early this year and they were trying their best to keep the city clean and maintain order.
Mr Culligan said that people must look at this and should stop attacking them in the media and instead take ownership of the problems and work closely with them to address it.
He said that the city needed support from the authorities like the business houses, provincial government and general public to maintain a good image of the city.
An educationist Albert Mek from surrounding Jika tribe said that the city authority needed support from everyone including the relevant bodies like the provincial government and business houses to effectively and efficiently deliver the vital services in the city.
Mr Mek said there were rubbish every where, no public toilets and also lots of criminal activities in the city.
He said that the city authority needed more funding to employ more staff to go out and clean up the mess and maintain order.