By Bethanie Harriman – EM TV, Lae
A local Real Estate developer has called on the Morobe Provincial Disaster office to assist a community in Lae to build walls to protect them from the Bumbu River floods that are threatening to destroy their homes.
Sovereign Real Estate Managing Director, Paddy Tolnga, has stopped building his own property temporarily.
He is now building a wall to reclaim precious land that has been lost, while other homes near Bumbu River are on the verge of being washed away.
Last week, customary landowners of Lae, PNG’s industrial hub, called on the government to create opportunities for them to develop their land. This they say, would enable them, as landowners, to build affordable rental homes.
According to the landowners, the Land-Mobilisation Authority has failed to create opportunities for them to develop their land into revenue streams. They want the government to simplify a process where they can easily meet bank requirements for loans, to build affordable rental homes.
Within Lae’s commercial centre, the price of renting a decent family home around suburbs is expensive.
Home rental prices are ranging from K3,000 to K10,000 kina per month, more than what any middle-income earning Papua New Guinean can afford for rent.
According to experts, the market can’t be regulated because prices are determined on supply and demand.
Related Articles:
Lae Families Pushed Towards Dangerous City Outskirts
Lae’s Traditional Landowners want Support to Develop Land
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