By"Special Correspondent in Lae"

Morobe Students from various tertiary institutions in Lae staged a peaceful protest on the 14^th August 2014 demanding the current government to do away with the establishing of Lae City Commission. They discovered that the Commission, it would be controlled by the Morobe Provincial Government.  Revenues generated would be directed to the provincial government basket and will directly affect the 711(internal) vote of the provincial budget.

Revenues (cash crops and mineral resources) generated from the eight districts will form the commission’s revenue. However, whether these revenues is shared among the eight rural districts is the question one would need an answer.

When the City Commission is established, it is certain that there will be long-term problems. One of the many problems no doubt will be traditional land grabbing.

A loophole in the Ahi Land Mobilization Policy has paved way for land grabbing. Landowners will be forced to give into cash thus allowing settlers and businesses to grab land. As more people flock in, law and order problems will rise as a result which has been the case over the years.

With the lessons learn from the Motu Koita and the Central Province, the Students did not want that to replicate in Morobe Province.