By MATTHEW VARI
Sunday, May 4, 2014 (PNG)
THAT is the situation at the moment for the idle
Central Market Project in Boroko in Port Moresby that was opened by the former
Governor for Central Alphonse Moroi and the Governor for NCD Powes Parkop in October
2011, coinciding with World Food Day.
When asked about what was to be done with the
abandoned project- Governor Parkop stated that he was not sure as to what
intentions the Central Provincial Government had with the market project.
“I do not know what is happening, that is
the truth- I think there is some impasse or we have come to a stalemate where
on the part of the Central Provincial Government, they want to have a title
before they fully develop it and open the market,” Parkop said.
“In that regard I’ve suggested to them to
invite them to send that submission to the board so the board will make
decision.”
“In respect to land that belongs to the
commission, I do not have powers to decide what happens to it, only the board
has that power.”
He said that he had given the invitation;
however, he insisted that as the chairman of the commission and the governor,
they did not have to wait for the title to be transferred.
“If the Central Provincial Government wants
more security or more assurance we can sign a lease agreement with them for
thirty years or how many years they want we can sign so they can have security
that they are to be in charge for the market for the long haul.”
“There are two ways to solve it, one to
come to the board and apply to have the title transferred, or we can sign a
lease agreement so they can invest what is required to open the market.”
The governor gave examples of the types of
arrangements NCD had undertaken with various partners for successful projects
in the city without having to get titles to land portions- models he said where
the Central Province Government could emulate.
“At Nature Park what used to be Botanical
Gardens, we do not own the land there, we do not even have a lease agreement
with the University of Papua New Guinea who own the land, but we have a mutual
agreement or understanding,” he said.
“UPNG owns it and we are managing it, and
now we have set up a trust where we have control over and we continue to fund.”
“So we have a working model that could in
itself give security and can be emulated by the Central Provincial Government.”
The other example includes Adventure Park
at 14 Mile which NCDC has a 30 year lease agreement.
“On my part as governor I would like to
suggest that the model of leasing is better than us transferring land.”
“If we do that, tomorrow they might use it
for something else other than what is was intended to be used for.”
“The commission wants that to remain as
public land and to remain for the particular purpose.”
He added that by retaining the title they
would keep it for the residents of the city, being the municipal government and
not the Central Province.
Attempts to get a comment from the Central
Provincial Government on the matter were unsuccessful.
No comments:
Post a Comment