Naru confident of equitable solution

 By CLEMENT KAUPA

MOROBE governor Kelly Naru is confident that locals will be given an equitable solution to problems they face on their land.

He said the recent death of seminary student, Kewa Michael who was hit on the head and thrown off a moving bus, had prompted the provincial government to address the plight of Morobeans on their land.

Last week, Naru ruled out the mass eviction of Western Highlanders but assured his people that other aspects of their demands contained in a petition they gave him would be addressed.

He will look into reserving the transport business for Morobeans, private enterprises and informal markets.

“The death of Kewa Michael is tragic and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms but this incident had also highlighted my government’s work to address the plight of Morobeans in their own province,” he said.

Naru, a lawyer by profession, said any mass eviction was “far reaching” and the government needed to study the legal, social and economic implications before reaching a decision.  

Public service vehicle licenses would also be reviewed with 60% reserved for Morobe people to own buses, taxis and hire car businesses.

This will also apply in part to small and medium enterprises such as tucker shops, second-hand clothing shops, fast food outlets and informal markets.

“I want people from the very remote parts of the nine districts to get into Lae and operate small businesses,” Naru said.

He added he would also be signing a memorandum of understanding with the National Development Bank to allow Morobeans’ access to soft loans from K2 million with the bank.