Parkop takes swipe at Lands

NCD Governor Powes Parkop.

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, December 11, 2016 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

A CLEARLY frustrated NCD Governor Powes Parkop has taken a swipe at the Lands Department and its dealings with public land in the National Capital.

He made the comments following NCDC’s successful lifting of a stay order preventing the opening of the Koki Buai Market built in the Moresby South Electorate that was claimed to be private land.

Mr Parkop said with the depletion of land space in Port Moresby, opportunists were now on the prowl to claim reserved public land in the city, but also vowed that he and his commission will remain steadfast in protecting against such claims.

“As governor for our capital city we are here to protect public space. Public space in our city is getting very very limited,” Mr Parkop said.

“Of course we want development, we want commercial, we want industrial, other type of residential development and so on throughout our city, but we have got to have a balance.”

“There must be a balance between all the different activities in our city. We can’t have utilized for one particular activity. Livability in the city depends on balance, not just in Port Moresby but in other urban areas and even in the village to.”

Governor Parkop welcomed the decision of the National Court in its final decision and appealed to the other party not to go to court and waste of time of the commission in its aim to deliver services to city residents.

“This is another case by which we are wasting unnecessary public fund, time, because of the incompetency or the corruption in the department of lands.”

“I have said this before and I will say it again. Lands department is full of corruption. Why should we have to go to court and spend public money to correct something that can be corrected by the lands department or should not happen in the first place?” He asked.

“Everyone down there at Koki knows that that space down there has been part of the Koki Market and NCD for donkey years.”

“The area at which the buai market has been built is a public carpark that belongs to NCD. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to know that.”

He called on the department to clean up their act with the wastage in public money going towards court cases.

“We have got another case also with Unagi Oval, where we have spent over K1 million, but we do not have to spend that money.”

“The minister and the department have the powers to revoke whatever title that has been handed out and of course everybody knows that we have lost Jack Pidik.”

“The Supreme Court has ruled way before I became governor that it belongs to a private company and I have been using all sort of avenues to hold onto it, but I can’t do it anymore.”