Samuel H. Basil posted: LAE CITY COMMISSION (LCC) Issue. My office (DoL) has sent requests to the office of the Lae MP to provide documents from NEC or Prime Ministers office and has since got no feedback. The documents we are after relates to the LCC issue. It now seems that the agenda is driven by PM Peter ONeil and not the Lae MP because the last response I got from the Hon. Loujaya Kouza LAE MP was that she is in the dark as some of us. She hasnt sighted or seen any documents of the LCC issue as yet. My team has complied some briefs for Morobeans to take note of implications, pros & cons. If and when the documents are made available by PMs office then we all can debate the LCC issue properly. PRO/CON OF ESTABLISHMENT OF LAE CITY COMMISSION BACKGROUND: The City of Lae is established or declared under the Towns and Cities Act just as other Provincial Towns as well as others such as Bulolo, Wau and Kainantu, Maprik, Balimo etc. The declared Cities by law in PNG are Port Moresby and Lae and recently Mt Hagen and Rabaul (volcanic eruptions and no longer). Prior to Independence, most towns were administered by Town Councils including Port Moresby which was under the Port Moresby City Council. Near Independence, there was a need to establish the National Capital for Papua New Guinea and consultations done which included Arona Valley (Yonki) in EHP and also present colonial administrative headquarters of Port Moresby. It was decided that Port Moresby should be considered then due to costs involved and proposed Capital can be looked at later. Hence, in the Constitution, Section 4 stipulates for the capital of the country with its boundaries and system of government provided by law. Port Moresby was administered under the Port Moresby City Act and in 1981 under the National Capital District (Interim Arrangements) Commission Act and later NCDC Act. During the Provincial Government Reforms, the issue of NCD and Bougainville and other issues came under review. In the 1995 Organic Law on Provincial & LLG, provision was made that NCD and Bougainville did not come under the Organic Law until the Head of State gazettes their inclusion. So these two provinces have special status being the National Capital (although it is counted as a Province) and Autonomous Region of Bougainville that operates under the Constitution and respective legislations. All other Cities and Towns including Lae and Mt Hagen are administered under the Urban Councils established under the OLPLLG and the Local Government Administration Act. CURRENT STATUS: Under the OLPLLG and LGA Act, Urban Councils have specific functions and powers provided by law to provide municipal services such as streetlights, parks and gardens, cemeteries, water and sewerage services, garbage and sanitation services. Unlike Rural LLG, Urban Councils including Lae City Council are provided Urban Services Grant under the National Budget, have more staffing to cater for specialised functions such as Engineers, City Planners and Designers, Social and Health Services etc. Also they have powers to charge municipal rates on land, provisions of water and sewerage, garbage and sanitation and other charges. In essence, Lae City Council does not have any special status from other Urban Councils , however, it has the capacity to collect fees and charges and infact with Lae being an industrial and commercial city, more opportunities and bigger base for application and collection of Trading and Liquor License, Rates and Charges and other taxes allowed by Law. CONSTRAINTS FOR LAE CITY COUNCIL: Lae City is administered under the provisions of OLPLLG and LGA Act and has no special status. However, due to being a declared city with huge industrial and commercial base, Lae City benefits directly from special State interventions such as current road maintenance, construction of Urban Health Centres and Police Stations and Educational institutions. Apart from funding provided by National Government directly to Lae City Council, most administrative and operational control is through the Morobe Provincial Administration that also provides the public servants. Also, the establishment of District Administration also conflicts in operations of the Lae City Council on roles and responsibilities as it has own Health , Education, Lands, Commerce etc. officers that must work with or outside of the LCC. Further, LCC also relies on the Morobe Provincial Government and Administration for budgetary support for their operations. BENEFITS FOR LAE CITY COUNCIL: Lae City has huge land mass and economic and population base as the regional hub for Momase and Sepik with shipping and commerce to generate revenue. As a declared city, Lae City can benefit directly from National Government programs. It can develop programs with national departments and agencies where some of its activities and functions can be funded by National Departments under MOU/MOA arrangements. Lae City Council that has special needs such as rural Ahi and urban villages and as Port Services to Highlands and Momase and NGI and huge commercial base apply to Department of Personnel Management to create specific sand technical positions to provide municipal as well as normal Town functions including recruitment of Agriculture Officers, Lands Officers to deal with agriculture and land issues as well as municipal engineering, building board and physical planning programs. As an Urban LLG, Lae City Council should cut its connection to Morobe Provincial Administration for manpower support etc. by recruiting its own personnel with special arrangements with DPM. Also, the Lae City Council should apply for PIP Programs and special program such as Street Lighting, Firefighting, Physical Planning from Department of National Planning and Department of Treasury. It seems to rely on Morobe Administration. With establishment of District Administration, LCC should liaise with direct specific programs and shared responsibilities demarcate who is responsible for what including the Morobe Provincial Administration and National Government agencies in Lae such as in Health, Education, Lands, Commerce, Works, PNG Ports etc. PUSH FOR LAE CITY COMMISSION: Most of push for LCC is the budgetary and manpower capacity which Lae Council seems to have problems with. Also, it is comparing itself to Port Moresby and considers that GST/VAT generated from Lae City should directly benefit Lae City. There could also be power play within Lae City as Governor, MP for Lae, MP for Huon Gulf and Nawae have interest in. Moreover, the Lord Mayor is also seen as the head of Lae City including the Lae City Council and all people in the boundaries of Lae City. COMPARISON WITH NCDC: Prior to NCDC under NCDC Act (Amended), 1995 with the Provincial Reforms, the Regional MP or Governor and Open MP were powerless as most funding and work programs were at mercy of Town Councillors and appointed Councillors with staff that reported straight to Lord Mayor. Late Sir William Skate saw the 1995 Reforms as an opportunity hence pushed for the provision of Governor and Open MP to the City Council and removed the elected councillors. Also, NCDC was collecting its own Sales Tax using its legislation. Also, it used its laws as provided under its own Act and the 1995 Reforms to charge land rates, garbage and sanitation charges, market and cemetery fees and water and sewerage charges etc. In case of Lae, Morobe Provinces was collecting Sales Tax and providing funding support to Lae City Council. However, that did not exclude LCC to collect municipal revenue. Lae City Council must not forget that its boundaries or the declaration of City does not give it any status as a Province, which NCD has to be entitled to GST/VAT directly from Internal Revenue Commission. LCC must use its powers and functions under OLPLLG and LGA Act and Council By Laws to improve on its revenue generation. Further, NCDC has a provision under its law to provide distribution of GST/VAT to Gulf province, Central Province as most people travel to do business in NCD and also gives percentage to Motu Koitabu Council. If issue of GST/VAT is pushed as basis for Lae City Commission, all Highlands Provinces and Momase may ask for share of GST/VAT percentage as most purchase goods and business from Lae City. At present, many provinces understand that Morobe is big province in terms of population, land mass and also most area is not connected to roads and hence a soft spot for Morobe to develop its rural areas including Lae City. POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS: The creation of Lae City Commission may be seen as local people and population is separate from Morobe Province. There may be ethnic violence between separate Lae people and the rural people of Morobe. The Governor, Open MP will be seen as no authority over the urban people. There will be power play between Governor, Open MP, Lae Open MP and Lord Mayor. There will be conflict between Morobe Provincial Administration, District Administration, Lae City Commission and Ahi LLC and other LLG that may be created. LEGISLATIVE IMPLICATIONS: There may be need to amend the OLPLLG and LGA Act and Organic Law on Boundaries to redefine status of Lae City area and manner of operations. As to revenue from GST/VAT, only provinces are entitled hence Lae City Commission boundary area may be given province status or vice versa to amend the GST Act and other legislations. DECENTRALISATION IMPLICATIONS: The people of Morobe who access national and provincial services from those agencies and facilities in Lae City may be discriminated. Education, health, PNG Ports and other services may be restricted as the Lae City Commission may define its own areas and people will be affected. Also, most services and institutions of Morobe Province may be located within the Lae City area covered by new law or Commission and people disadvantaged. Eg, Central people are restricted to Konebodu within their Provincial Government Assembly and Administration area. People of Central feel neglected and discriminated as strangers in own land. CONCLUSION: As with the establishment of National Capital District Interim Commission, there needs to a Special Committee with specific Terms of Reference on:- 1. Boundaries 2. Legislations 3. Powers and Functions 4. Service Delivery 5. Administration 6. Manpower 7. Financing 8. Operations 9. Relationship with Morobe and Ahi people 10. Relationship with other Towns and Districts 11. Role of MPG and MPA , Lae, Nawae, Huon District Administration, Ahi LLG and National Government 12. Miscellaneous The Committee should be appointed by Minister for Inter Government Relations and comprise representatives from:- 1. National Government – 3 2. Morobe Provincial Government – 3 3. Lae, Nawae, Huon Gulf – 1 each 4. Other Districts – 2 5. Chamber of Commerce 6. Ahi people – 1 7. Boundaries Commission 8. Lae City Council – 2 9. Community Reps – 2 10. Highlands Provinces – 1 11. Momase Provinces – 1 12. Others – 2 Funding should be made available for the Committee to carry out its work and report presented to Morobe Provincial Government (Tutumang) and hence to National Parliament. Based on the Report, further and final consultation can be made on the best alternative recommended. Hon Sam Basil, MP Deputy Opposition Leader Member for Bulolo
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 02:59:55 +0000
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