O’Neill given extra 7 days

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Wednesday 21st December 2011

THE Morobe independent peace and good order committee has extended its deadline to next Wednesday for Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to respond to its demands.
The group’s petition on Dec 5 at the National Agricultural Research Institute in Lae gave O’Neill 14 days to respond.
The deadline for O’Neill to respond to their points for achieving a peaceful city was extended because of the political upheaval. The committee’s leaders said yesterday that they stood by their initial demands.
The committee, made up of elders from Hunter to Bumayong, was formed at the height of last month’s uprising in which Morobeans took to the streets to rid the city of criminals.
Its head Jasper Jema said they still wanted O’Neill to address the issues they raised.
Among their demands was for the Morobe provincial government to be suspended for ineffectiveness.
They also demanded that the Lae city lord mayor James Khay be suspended from office.
The committee has said that it was not happy with the funding of the funeral of the five dead Morobeans, who they described as “heroes”.
“Only funeral costs were met, but nothing was given to compensate the family and relatives of the dead,” they said.