Lae city govt demolishes illegal public toilet

POLICE and Lae City Council officials tore down a building and a fence last Saturday, claiming that the owner-developer had failed to observe proper construction procedures.
City manager Roy Kamen was present when the Eriku public toilet building and fencing were torn down by police officers and council workers at around 11am last Saturday.
Market tables were damaged and trees near the building were cut down.
Kamen said they had to remove the fence because the developer, Luke Yawau of Comfort Management Services Ltd, had set up structures without getting approval from the provincial physical planning board.
The council was also not consulted about the development.
“He built a new structure there. That building belongs to the city council. He is only a tenant,” Kamen said.
Kamen said a fence the developer put up and the extension to the building were not in the agreement signed with the council.
“There is an existing agreement in place that says that benefits from the toilet should be shared 70:30 per cent by him and city council,” Kamen said.
“To date, he has not paid the city council any money (30 per cent of the proceeds).”
Kamen said they had asked Yawau to stop building extensions and erecting perimeter fences but he ignored that.
Yawau said he had done nothing wrong to deserve such treatment from the council and police.
He said the extensions he made were just “variations” to the existing building. “I admit I have not paid the 30 per cent council component of the income because they have not assisted me in any way to improve the facility,” Yawau told The National.