P-NG towns to get

urban government

Papua-New Guinea’s bigger

towns are to have urban local government by the middle of next year—or the government will want to know the reason

why!

Port Moresby, Lae, Madang and Rabaul have been selected for the June, 1970, target date, and a string of smaller towns—Popondetta, Kaim antu, Alotau and others—are next on the list.

Since 1952, experimental local gov ernment in New Guinea has mush roomed and now covers nearly 1,900.00 with 142 separate councils, many of them multi-racial. But none of the territory’s towns has ever con templated genuine urban govern ment.

The government has always handled the essential services very few among the rapid turnover of urban population were interested in helping to run their towns—and landholders stood out because they knew urban government would mean land rating.

Now, the government has stepped in and set timetables. Citizens’ ad visory committees are being estab lished to help decide council areas, the services they should handle, the rate of subsidy from central govern ment, and the type of rates and taxes.

The time has come, the govern ment says, for townspeople to begin helping themselves.