Leader wants PDA probed

A COMMUNITY leader and landowner of the Porgera mining area has called on the national government to investigate the Porgera Development Authority.
Ekale Kangalia of Teini Akira clan in the Porgera special mining lease area yesterday said the authority had deviated from its principal function of implementing mining agreement infrastructure projects and was now operating as a political institution.
He said the authority was serving the interests of a privileged few in Enga and not the bulk of the Porgera people.
Kangalia also questioned the whereabouts of K20.4 million that was allocated to the authority in 2007.
“No one knows what has happened to this national government funding,” he said.
“Many people have questioned the disappearance of this money, and the government must investigate and establish what happened to the funds.”
Kangalia said a physical check must be done to confirm if any projects were implemented using these funds.
“The PDA board has failed to provide the leadership necessary to progress the Porgera district.
“The authority has lost focus and control,” Kangalia said.  
This, he said, had resulted in continuous tribal fights and deaths, an alarming increase in the number of home-brew and drug addicts and HIV/AIDS had also been reported in the villages.
He said the February 2009 state of emergency declared in Porgera did not restore order because the authority on the ground was malfunctioning.
He said the mining township needed a complete overhaul which must start with an
investigation into the Porgera Development Authority.