EVIL PREVAILS WHEN GOOD MEN DO NOTHING

I never thought of words that would best describe the leadership of someone who was predominantly favored and mandated by the people of Lae.

Three years on, John Rosso from being a longtime private entrepreneur and philanthropist, he never had the intention to contest the political office in Lae and Morobe.

He was somewhat a private person, who hardly wants publicity for his generosity towards people from all walks of life.

He was criticized as not being a good orator when he decided to accept a plea by over a thousand women (mostly widows) to contest the 2017 elections. Nevertheless, he jokingly admitted that politics is not his trade.

With no policies emphasized during his campaign, he stood up with a slogan 'For A Better Lae', a statement that aims at restoring confidence in the administration of Lae and making sure the people get what they rightfully deserve. 

Lae has a backlog of issues with its administration from the district, the city council and other stakeholders that there have been no cohesiveness and partnerships to serve the people. Corruption has riddled and crippled almost all service delivery mechanisms in place.

Gross abuse and mismanagement of funding and resources have been prevalent within the systems in place. It has became a norm that nobody care to speak up, put an end to such practices and or even make an attempt to at least fix some of these issues. 

Law & order problems, ethnic clashes, illegal land grabbing and deteriorating road infrastructures are some of the many legacy issues that were swept under the carpet for decades. 

Kaikai man and wantok systems were deeply rooted and successive political leadership have succumbed to its deadly venom.

The weak were suppressed by those in power. Hundreds of contractors and service providers were not paid their dues while certain cronies and ghost employees were paid.

Today, the administrative tussle between LULLG and Lae City Authority is still ongoing despite LCA introducing prudent management of assets, funding and resources owned by the taxpayers of Lae. All these are accredited to his private enterprise background.

There are many legacy issues in Lae that needs to be addressed. As Mr Rosso alluded there's no easy or quick fix to all of Lae's problems. Funding has been a major setback given the debt level inherited from LULLG to service providers, IRC and Nambawan Super.

Criticisms are healthy for good governance and transparency only if people understand the struggle to sought funding and making use of the available resources and limited funding at hand.

Under Mr Rosso's leadership,  there's been a lot of partnerships with private enterprises, MPG, Australian Consulate and the PANGU-led Government. 

Change is imminent and those who disagree better have solutions other than spilling hot air to get attention. Many people seek public office for personal gain and enrichment while others leave their comfort zone, sacrifice their career, businesses, family and reputation for the greater good of the people.

As his favorite quote says 'Evil prevails when good men do nothing'.

Happy Independence Day Lae and Papua New Guinea.

#ForABetterLae #TakeBackPNG