Megao: Mt Hagen buckles under influx

 By JAMES APA GUMUNO

THE influx of people into Mount Hagen daily is putting too much pressure on the city authority’s ability to provide basic services, city manager Victor Megao said recently.

He said as a result of the mining boom in the highlands region, people flooded into the city every day.

Megao said littering was a big problem and put pressure on the 23 employees engaged to collect rubbish.

He said they tried their best to clean the city every day but with the influx of people, it was very hard to make visitors dispose of their rubbish in the bins provided or to stop them from walking or sitting on flower beds.

Megao said the dump trucks were more than 20 years old and now needed repair.

He said they had plans to employ more people and buy new machinery but they did not have the money to do that right away, adding that they could not do much with the K695,000 annual national government grant.

Megao said to make it worse some business houses in the city refused to pay trading licence fees, land rates, garbage and sanitation fees.

He said only about 60 per cent of businesses paid the necessary fees.

Fred Kure, a city councillor for Kimininga ward, said Mt Hagen was the third city in the country and the national government must consider increasing its annual grants to K2-K3 million.

He said companies operating in mine sites in Enga and Southern Highlands had their bases in Mt Hagen and people from these provinces went to Mt Hagen to conduct their business.

Kure said Hagen urban local level government was under pressure because it did not have enough money to provide basic amenities like proper toilets, engage more people to clean the city, buy new trucks to collect rubbish and build proper footpaths.

He said local MPs in the province must at least put in some money and help the city authority.

He thanked local MP William Duma and Governor Tom Olga for their support.

Kure said if all business houses in the city paid up their fees and the national government increased its annual grants, they would be in a better position to provide basic services.