Do not bulldoze city commission

 SINCE the proposal to establish the Lae City Commission was first mooted, there have been mixed feelings about its status and functions within Lae district and Morobe.

Among its key proponents is Lae MP Loujaya Kouza, who off-loaded her ministerial portfolio in the O’Neill Cabinet last year in anticipation of heading the new commission.

By all accounts, the “chairperson-in-waiting” has been working frantically of late to garner support for the proposal. Kouza even paid for a delegation of Lae leaders and officials to travel to Port Moresby last week to support her bid as Parliament prepares to debate the LCC Bill. “As Lae MP, I’m encouraged and supported by the Chief Secretary, Sir Manasupe Zurenuoc, and Speaker Theo Zurenuoc, in that the three of us are calling for the Lord Mayor of Lae City, Koim Trilu Leahy, to come to Port Moresby.”

However, Leahy is adamant he will not support the proposal until all stakeholders in Lae and Morobe have been consulted. “As the Lae Lord Mayor, I am calling on all Morobeans to protest against this peacefully.”

The main opposition to the new commission has come from the Morobe provincial government led Governor Kelly Naru who initially dismissed the proposal in its entirety.

Sir Manasupe dashed over to Lae at the weekend to try and woo more support for the LCC. The former Morobe provincial administrator managed to convince a few more leaders, including local level government (LLG) chairman Paul Itama.

“I’m speaking in my capacity as the chairman for local level government affairs, for the 33 LLGs of Morobe, and the nine districts of Morobe. More than 85 per cent of the people of Morobe are happy that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and his government for pushing for the creation of the commission.”

Another convert is Ahi LLG president David Agi, who initially opposed the proposal but said after discussions with Sir Manasupe that he now understood how the city commission will function within the bigger picture.

However, stiff opposition is still coming from the provincial executive council (PEC), with the Deputy Governor describing their meeting with the chief secretary yesterday as “unorganised”.

“We have discussed nothing constructive on Sunday with Sir Manasupe in relation to Lae City Commission issue. But our (PEC) assurance and stand is firm and clear that the Government has to come down to the Tutumang (provincial assembly) and let us sit, debate and find an amicable solution to the issue.”

Naru has been quiet on the issue and has allowed his deputy and others, including elder statesman Sir Jerry Nalau, to voice their opposition.

Nonetheless, the O’Neill Government is expected to bulldoze the LCC legislation through the current sitting of Parliament with or without the provincial government’s support.

Sir Manasupe says his mission to Lae was a success and he expects the LCC Bill to be enacted by Parliament this week.

He explained that despite Naru’s absence “all the members of the PEC who were raising issues were there and I explained the issues to them. They appeared to be satisfied with the explanations. I think I have, on behalf of the Government, well and truly consulted with all the stakeholders.”

We hope, for the Government’s sake, Sir Manusupe is correct.

Whether the ruling People’s National Congress likes it, Naru’s participation and input in the establishment of the LCC is of paramount importance.

He has the mandate of the Morobe people and his opposition to the proposal must be respected and not be treated with contempt.

On the other hand, the Lae MP’s performance so far leaves a lot to be desired.

Is she a fit and proper person to occupy the chair of the Lae City Commission?

Her poor record speaks for itself, especially her role in the failed biometric identification project that cost Lae district about K7 million. Her continued absence from the electorate has been a matter of grave concern to the people of Lae.

Kouza has been conspicuous by her absence since the beginning of the year when the industrial hub was jolted by a spate of brutal killings.

These factors raise serious doubts about her ability to take charge of the LCC.