The Department of Environment and Conservation has requested the Lae urban local level government to assist in the inspection of various facilities and places in Lae.
The assessments made from these inspections would determine whether a full-scale scientific investigation should be carried out into the pollution level in Lae city.
“Our officer in Lae has received complaints from residents living near the Second Seven dump regarding environmental and health hazards posed by this facility and the use of the Bumbu River as a disposal site.
“We will conduct an initial visual inspection of the areas concerned,” Kelly Gawi, acting deputy secretary for Environment, said in a letter to the Lae city manager Bart Ipambonj.
“This initial inspection is aimed at identifying the level of further work needed to understand fully the environmental and socio-economic impacts caused by the dump.
“This is also to establish what investigations are needed to understand the level of pollution in the Bumbu River and how best these issues could be addressed by the various stakeholders,” Mr Gawi stated.
The inspection was supposed to be carried out on Nov 19-20.
Mr Ipambonj welcomed the effort by the department to understand the level of pollution in Lae, adding that the city authority would help where it could.