By MALUM NALU
New Morobe Governor Kelly Naru says the people of the province have spoken by voting out his predecessor Luther Wenge after 15 years in office.
“You have to get the people of Morobe to answer that,” he said at his first press conference at Melanesian Hotel in Lae last Friday since being elected as Morobe Governor.
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| Morobe Governor Kelly Naru making a point at his press conference last Friday.-Picture by MALUM NALU |
“What has happened is that people have not seen change for the better, and in their right mind, they have decided that my former brother (Wenge) would have to accept early retirement.
“And that’s what they’ve done.”
Naru said law and order was a major stumbling block to development in Lae and Morobe province, and made reference to Wenge’s court cause against Australia’s Enhanced Cooperation Programme (ECP) in 2005, which saw Australian policemen and women ordered out of PNG.
“Believe me, I will not go to court and chase ECP out,” he said.
“We have to begin addressing law and order problems in the city.
“I believe that policies and law-enforcement agencies are here to help us.
“There are people who are here to help us, how how can we chase them out again?
“This is something that I don’t like.”
Naru said successive governments over the years had failed to address the law and order problem in Lae.
“Law and order is a major concern in Lae City,” he said.
“Successive governments have tried to address this, but they didn’t address it well.
“To me, the problem of law and order in Lae is still there.
“We have to find some ways and means of addressing this.
“Law and order is part and parcel of a package.
“We have to address law and order not on a piecemeal basis, but with other issues such as unemployment, youth, women, religion.
“I will sit down with our leaders and we will try to address this problem of law and order.
“I will invite all stakeholders together so we can address the problem.
“If we can create economic growth and business activities in which youths can be engaged, then obviously we will minimise problems of law and order.
“Hopefully, we can address the issue, not in total eradication, but in minimising law and order problems we have in the city.”