Lae City Authority

Member for Lae and Deputy Prime Minister, John Rosso, says LCA now legally owns the land after years of fighting illegal land grabbers.

DPM Rosso, who is also the Minister for Lands & Physical Planning, has reclaimed all recreational areas and sporting fields in the city and placed them under LCA for the benefit of Lae residents.

All these are in line with his vision of restoring Lae to its former glory.

Handover takeover documents were signed on Friday, April 12, between LCA CEO, Robin Calistus, and the PNG Sports Foundation CEO, Albert Veratau. This follows the signing of a five-year lease agreement on October 3, 2023.

The complainant is a 32-year-old seafarer who had driven his friend’s vehicle to Lae Top Town on Wednesday, March 6^th, between 11.30am and 12pm.

As he was stepping out of the vehicle, he was approached by a police officer who introduced himself as ‘Constable John Paul’.

A lease agreement was signed today at the outdoor stadium between the Lae City Authority chief executive officer, Robin Calistus, and the Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation CEO, Albert Veratau.

Member for Lae and Deputy Prime Minister, John Rosso, has always stressed on restoring Lae to its glory days; the days when families can enjoy the city and its benefits without fearing for their safety.

To be hosted at the Lae Botanical Gardens, the LaeFest 2023 will have a series of traditional food, exotic cultural singsing, village life exhibitions, carving and weaving and SME arts & crafts.

For entry, children will pay K1 while adults pay K2.

Live music will be provided by Red Ink Tern, Reks Band, Aponge Masalai, Duaks, Ethnic DJ and Et Kalsa.

Residents wishing to book a stall can visit the old district headquarters at Huon Road, Top Town for more information.

The Lae City Authority says this is another industrial street road getting a much-needed facelift.

“It will be concreted,” said LCA.

“[A] Few months ago, we saw Sletfjord, another industrial street road adjacent to Erica, being concreted.

“Once work on Erica Street is completed, the two streets will complement each other well, making it convenient for business houses and industries such as Coca-Cola PNG to increase their productions while reducing cost in some areas of businesses.

“It’s one street at a time depending on funding availability.”

When presenting their new jerseys on Saturday at the Lae Yacht Club, Lae MP and Deputy Prime Minister, John Rosso, commended them for their perseverance and said after much persuasion, he agreed to the Lae City Authority sponsoring the city’s “pride and joy”. 

This morning, the Lae Chamber of Commerce and Industry facilitated a breakfast session to update its members on the temporary facilities that will house vendors on Markham Road, next to Air Niugini, while construction begins in early 2024 for the two-storey facility.

Engaged to manage the design, construction and commissioning of the project is the Economic and Social Infrastructure Program (ESIP).

Member for Lae and Deputy Prime Minister, John Rosso, said since the launch of the program on June 1st, 2020, K2 million had been allocated annually until this year.

“We’ve now increased it to K4 million to cater for the capacity,” he said.

“It’s a program that assists our mothers and widows and people who are a little bit hard up. It’s a two-part program. A lot of people don’t realise that we also train them in financial literacy.

“Most of them had never had bank accounts in their lives; we’ve opened it up.

The partnership, which will be trialed for a month, will see workers from the Lae Hand Up program be utilised for the upkeep of the market area, while Dulux will provide the necessary tools and equipment.

DuluxGroup PNG’s supply chain and operations manager, Frederick William Slavin, visited the Lae City Authority office on Thursday, August 11^th, where the acting LCA chief executive officer, Robin Calistus, briefed him on the Hand Up program.