Lae

Lae
University of Technology library
Lae Location within Papua New Guinea
Coordinates: 6°44′S 147°0′E / 6.733°S 147.000°E / -6.733; 147.000
Country	Papua New Guinea
Province	Morobe Province
District	Lae District
LLG	Lae Urban LLG
Elevation	8 m (26 ft)
Population (2012)
• Total	100,677
• Rank	2nd
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)

Lae, is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor from the Highlands region to the coast and near the delta of the Markham River. Lae is the largest cargo port of the country and is the industrial city for Papua New Guinea. The city is known as the Garden City and home of the University of Technology.^[1]

History

Panoramic photo of Lae city taken from top of the Hodgson Nagi (Telikom) building, Lae. Governors residence to the left. Port to the right. Taken 29 January 2014

1800s

Between 1884 and 1918 the German New Guinea Company established trading posts in Kaiser Wilhelmsland, German New Guinea.

The main harbor, called Adolfhaven was situated 135 km to the southeast of Lae.

On 12 July 1886, a German missionary, Johann Flierl, a pioneer missionary for the Southern Australian Lutheran Synod and the Neuendettelsau Mission Society, sailed to Simbang in Finschhafen, Kaiser-Wilhelmsland and arrived at Lae shortly after.^[2]

The mission society provided clergy and religious education for Lutheran settlements in Missouri, Iowa and Ohio, Australia, and anywhere else “free thinking” Lutherans had settled.^[3]

Flierl sailed from the Cooper Creek mission in South Australia towards German New Guinea stopping at Queensland to establish the Cape Bedford Mission and Elim Mission.

At the time two groups of Germans inhabited Kaiser-Wilhelmsland. The largest group were the entrepreneurs, plantation owners, officials of the German New Guinea Company, and government functionaires living in Finschhafen and Madang, and at plantations along the coast. They viewed groups they encountered, differently than did the evangelical Lutherans at Finschhafen, Sattelberg, and the filial mission statements along the coast.^[4]

Photo of original Air Niugini terminal at old Lae airfield. Taken 29 Jan 2014

1900s

After World War 1, Eastern New Guinea came under British control (Australia) and many of the Germanic names were replaced by English or Indigenous ones. Adolf Haven was then referred to as Morobe Harbor.^[5]

Australian Officials or Kiap's were stationed at various locations within the area ^[6] and in 1921 the military administration transitioned to a civilian administration, a gold prospector named Cecil John Levien was appointed District Officer (Kiap) of Morobe.

1920-1930

On 1 January 1923 Levien acquired a mining right for the area and shortly after formed a syndicate called Guinea Gold (No Liability).^[7] The Guinea Gold syndicate formed Guinea Airways Limited in November 1927.^[8] In 1927 Levien arranged for the construction of the airstrip at Lae to assist the gold mine productions around Wau.^[9]

Lae was declared a town under the New Guinea Boundaries Ordinance on 31 March 1931 at the height of the gold rush era .^[10] Like numerous Papua New Guinean towns, it sprang up around the Lae Airfield, which is now disused as it has been replaced by Lae Nadzab Airport. Cargo arrived in Lae and then was transported by air to the goldfields in Wau.

1930-1945

In July 1937, Lae made world news when American aviator Amelia Earhart was last seen flying out of the airport on her way back to the United States. She was never seen again.

When the volcanic eruptions occurred in Rabaul in 1937, a decision was made to transfer the capital of the Territory of New Guinea to Lae. World War II got in the way of the transfer and the town was occupied by the Empire of Japan on 8 March 1942. Lae, Rabaul and Salamaua became the major Japanese bases in New Guinea.

The naval Battle of the Bismarck Sea in March 1943^[11] was fought over the Japanese attempt to reinforce Lae with troops sent by sea from Rabaul, an attempt foiled by sustained Allied attack on the Japanese troop transports. In mid-1943, after defeats in the Kokoda Track campaign, the Battle of Buna–Gona and the Battle of Wau, the Japanese retreated to Lae and Salamaua. However, the Salamaua–Lae campaign involved many weeks of fierce fighting, before the town fell to the Allies on 16 September.

1970-1990's

In 1971 the Australian Colonial Administration established the first properly constituted Local Government of Lae town and in 1972 Lae was proclaimed a city.^[12]

Lae's development after the war is directly linked to the development of the highlands. Coffee and tea were being grown and a port was needed. Later priority was given on road access, and the Highlands Highway came into existence. The mineral boom occurred in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1991, Lae and Port Moresby hosted the South Pacific Games.

In 1997 Lae City Authority became the Lae Urban Local Level Government Council.^[12]

2000's

On 24 September 2011, the annual Papua New Guinea national rugby league team's match against the Australian Prime Minister's XIII took place outside Port Moresby for the first time at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium, which was packed to capacity for the match.^[13]

Government

The Lae City Council is also known as Lae Urban Local-Level Government. It is an Urban Municipal Authority, responsible for the policy decisions, management and administration of the City, by way of providing the municipal services to the residents of the City.^[12]

Lae City Aims to become one of the Garden Cities of Asia Pacific Region by 2012, by creating a modern, safe, vibrant City, with a strong economy, whilst enhancing its cultural heritage, and by developing a Healthy, well Educated, Harmonious Community, which will enjoys a good living environment.^[14]

The Lae Urban Local-Level Government is a third-tier Government. The political structure consists of the Lord Mayor as the head, who is elected by the people, with five elected, and three nominated Councilors. The six elected Councilors representing the six Wards in the City. The nominated Councilors represented the Chamber of Commerce, the Workers Federation Union, and the Women, Youth and Churches. The Council makes decisions on the policy issues relating to the City, and the Council Management implement the decisions.^[15]

Roads

The Lae City has 137 kilometers of roads, which the National Government is responsible for the maintenance of the Independence Drive, the Markham Road, and the Milford Haven Road, while the Lae City Council maintains the rest of the roads in the City. Due to lack of funding, almost all the roads have deteriorated over the years.^[16]

Rubbish Disposal

There are various rubbish disposal sites in Lae with the largest opposite the Telekom PNG Training College near Busu Road. Many villages have their own rubbish disposal sites often directly into natural drainage systems. A cross section of these rubbish sites indicate that the earlier rubbish consist mostly of organic matter (coconut shells, Buai) but later rubbish includes non-organic plastics.

Villages / suburbs

• Malahang
• Butibam
• Voco Point
• Chinatown
• Dowsett
• Omili
• Bumbeng
• Eriku
• Bugandi
• Buimo
• Taraka
• Tent City (Siti)
• Bumayong
• Situm Village

Climate

Industry

Lae is strategically located in that it can supply the highlands, islands, Southern and Momase regions. Large businesses include;

• Halla Cement
• Trukai Rice
• SP Brewery
• South Pacific Steel

Markets

The Lae City boasts of having the best food market in Papua New Guinea. This is due to the fact that the Morobe Province produces the best taros, bananas, seetpopatoes, yams, fruits and vegetables etc., which have been sought after by many Papua New Guineans as well as expatriates. The Lae Main Market also receives and sells foodstuff and vegetables from the Highlands Provinces. Apart from Lae Main Market, Wards and Mini-markets are also available to cater for the needs of the growing population of o the City.^[18]

Notable landmarks

RAAF C47 located in Lae Botanical Gardens

University of Technology

Papua New Guinea University of Technology is based 8 km outside of Lae and is the second largest university in PNG after its 'sister' university the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby. While University of Papua New Guinea concentrates on the arts, pure sciences, law and medicine, the University of Technology focuses on research in technological or applied sciences. It is the only technological university in the South Pacific, outside of Australia and New Zealand. It offers disciplines in engineering, computing as well as architecture. The university has grown from just 37 students in 1967 to over 2,000 currently each year. By the end of 2003 Unitech had awarded 10,122 degrees, diplomas and certificates to students mainly from PNG and neighbouring Pacific countries.^[19]

Lae International Hotel

Lae International Hotel is an important conference centre and has hosted some notable political figures over the years.^[20] Lae International Hotel (6°43′50″S 147°0′21″E / 6.73056°S 147.00583°E / -6.73056; 147.00583) has 100 rooms, furnished with wooden furnitures and 4 luxury suites. It contains the Vanda Restaurant, Luluai's Italian Restaurant and Kokomo Coffee Shop.^[21]

Lae War Cemetery

Lae War Cemetery was established in 1944, and is located adjacent to the Botanical Gardens in the centre of the city. The cemetery holds the remains of over 2,800 soldiers, many of whom died in the Salamaua–Lae campaign, but also those who died in Japanese detention on the Island. It is also the lying ground of two Victoria Cross recipients.

Lae Botanical Gardens

Lae Botanical gardens are beautifully maintained but not always open to the public. There is an old Australian Airplane (circa WWII) in the center of the Lae Botanical Gardens.

Bumbu River

The Bumbu river starts at the Adzera Mountain range, through Taraka to Kamkumung, Butibam, Bumbu and to the Huon Golf. Following a flood in 1992, the population was relocated to a temporary settlement called Tent Siti (City).^[12]

Other Significant Locations

Lae Yacht Club

• Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium
• Lae Golf Course,
• Angau Hospital,
• Lae Technical College,
• Lae City Hotel,
• Lae Yacht Club

Health Care

For visitors, ensure you have good health insurance. Lae International Hospital is of good developing world standard. It is a 19 bed facility with 1 emergency bed. It has 6 doctors, one General Practitioner, an Anesthesiologist, a Surgeon, a Radiologist and two Obstetricians. All doctors are from the Philippines and all nurses are local nationals.

The other private hospital is Tusa Private Hospital (corner of Huon Rd and 13th St). There is also a public hospital called Angau Memorial Hospital located on Markham Road.

For travelers to Lae, they should seek expert medical advice regarding malaria prophylaxis as well as Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Japanese Encephalitis and Typhoid vaccinations. Of note there was a significant outbreak of Cholera based in the Morobe District in 2009 and consideration of vaccination would be prudent.^[22]

Twin town

• Cairns, Australia (Queensland) since 1984

See also

• Invasion of Lae-Salamaua

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lae.

• Google Maps

v t e Provincial capitals of Papua New Guinea Alotau (MB) Arawa or Buka (Bougainville) Daru (Western) Goroka (EHP) Kavieng (NI) Kerema (Gulf) Kimbe (WNB) Kokopo (ENB) Kundiawa (Simbu) Lae (Morobe) Lorengau (Manus) Madang (Madang) Mendi (SHP) Mount Hagen (WHP) Popondetta (Oro) Port Moresby (Central/NCD) Wabag (Enga) Wewak (ES) Vanimo (WS)