Plea for peaceful rally

 By GABRIEL LAHOC

RESIDENTS of Lae city and Morobe people have been urged to peacefully protest against the Lae City Commission proposal and stop it from being debated in Parliament until legal issues were resolved.

Lae Lord Mayor Koim Trilu Leahy made the appeal after rejecting an offer from Lae MP Loujaya Kouza to join a group travelling to Port Moresby to witness its discussion in Parliament.

Leahy, Ahi local level government president Sam David Agi and Morobe Governor Kelly Naru were the first to publicly oppose the proposal for the commission last year.

Kouza on Monday invited him and Agi to fly to Port Moresby and join her in witnessing parliament debate on the commission.

“I stayed back in Lae because I want to defend my birthright as a Morobean leader. 

“As the Lae Lord Mayor I am calling on all Morobeans to protest against this peacefully,” Leahy said.

“I will not deny the rights of the people of Morobe to get Lae City Commission in place. It  is a good concept but they (government) must consult the stakeholders and the affected people in Morobe.

“The provincial executive council was not advised and consulted, the government must sit with the Morobe provincial government and spell out its benefits in detail.”