Lawyer takes action against dumping in public place

MADANG town authorities were given seven days to clear all town rubbish dumped at the Sir Donald Cleland Park in the centre of the town.
Lawyer Young Wadau who lives close to the park issued a notice to Madang Urban local level government, Madang provincial administration and Madang district administration to act within seven days.
The notice was issued last Thursday. “In the event that no action is taken within the stipulated time, I will have no hesitation to prosecute you under a law of torts,” Wadau said in the notice.
Madang urban local level government acting town manager Philip Posanau said Wadau did not consult the authorities before taking the short cut by issuing a legal notice.
“We have reasons for doing this and we have stopped dumping rubbish since Monday and arranged for a dozer to move the rubbish,” Posanau said.
He said the original rubbish dump area at Meiro was slippery and made it difficult for rubbish trucks to drive in so they decided to store the town rubbish there.
Posanau said the dry season has begun and rubbish trucks have already started dumping rubbish at the designated dump area.
Johnson Yengi, a town resident who usually holds meetings at the park, said he had stopped people from throwing rubbish at the park several times.
“This is a park and we always have children coming in to play on the playing facilities here while others come in to sit and have lunch but that has stopped when the rubbish piled up,” Yengi said.
“This is the centre of a tourist town and this practice is just not right. This has to be corrected
to bring this park to its original beauty,” Yengi said.