Association to review by-law to control settlements

Momase

THE by-laws of the Morobe Settlement Association created in 1984 will be reviewed to control the growth of settlements in Lae city, says an official.
Lae law and order chairman Sam Oyaya said yesterday that he had a meeting with Lae MP John Rosso, district administrator Robin Calistus and Lae central police station commander regarding the settlement issue.
Oyaya said some of the provisions in the by-law were outdated and needed to be reviewed and amended.
“This by-law was in place during the time of Utula Samana and Jerry Nalau as premiers,” Oyaya said. “Its function was basically to regulate settlements in the city so that people live in peace.
“We will be looking at this by-law and make changes to suit our present situation.”
Oyaya said his law and order committee members were ready to perform their duties but they were not empowered under any laws to do so as they were just volunteers.
“With the review, our members would be given some powers to work with relevant authorities like police and city council to address issues in settlements,” Oyaya said.
He said the review would also look at people who created law and order problems in the settlement and how they could be approached by the authorities.
He said the issue of compensation for unlawful acts would also be looked at.
“It will take us about two months to have the by-law reviewed,” Oyaya said. “Once this is done we will go into full operation.
“This is the right way because some people might be questioning our community work.”