Leaders lock Nawaeb office

Lae News, Normal
Source:

The National, Friday, 27th May 2011

By PISAI GUMAR
FRUSTRATED leaders from Nawaeb district have removed keys from the district office staff and locked the main gates into the district administration office at Boana station.
This was done without the knowledge of district leaders and MP and Forest Minister Timothy Bonga.
The leaders said the peaceful protest on Wednesday was because the 21 day ultimatum in a May 5 petition  had lapsed without provincial administrator Kemaseng Tomala taking any action on it
The petition asked an investigation team to scrutinise incomplete projects, cash payments for contract work did not match invoices raised, nepotism and leasing of a district  bulldozer to a private contractor to use for personal gain.
They said 1,000 people from Erap, Wain, Nabak and Labuta flocked to the district headquarters and ordered the staff to vacate offices and locked the doors.
The doors to the district treasury and administration building and the main gate were locked and the keys given to the police.
But administrator Roy Kamen, who was in Port Moresby with Bonga to attend parliament, said sources on the ground said there were only 150 rowdy people and not 1,000 as claimed.
He said no LLG leaders were involved and it was mainly self-proclaimed leaders with  Wain and Erap people who forcefully locked the gates.

He said on their way back, a police mobile squad unit stopped them and ordered them to hand over the keys.
The keys were then given to provincial police commander Peter Guinness.
“In the case of a bulldozer, under the JDP’s knowledge, it is released and the contractor uses it and pays a sum of money to the district administration. We have all the receipts and documents,” he said.
“These are all administrative issues that can be dealt with directly with the administrator.”
The leaders are to meet with Tomala at 9am today (Friday) to address the issue.