Three views of Lae as told by others

1. "Firstly, I must point out to you that this Show is totally organized by the students themselves who have very limited resources to publicize the Event that is taking place this weekend . Secondly, the Students have done a lot of awareness in the Highlands Region, all five provinces through the provincial headquarters or Towns with flyers and posters everywhere during the first semester break including Port Moresby, the Tourism & Promotion Authority, the National Cultural Commission, the Office of the Higher Education are all well aware as well as Lae, Madang and East Sepik provinces respectively. FM Morobe has been advertising the Event as well as been hired to run the three days event through the String Bands competition, etc and promotion of Recording Contract in the Powerhouse Studios as first prize."
2. "This city is so beset by problems that time wasted on playing political games over governor-ships and party numbers is nothing but an insult to the residents. Is anybody out there listening?The residents have long since ceased to care who is to blame for what shortfall. We want to be able to live peacefully in our homes without having a heart attack every time there’s an unexpected knock at the door. We’re fed up with rape and street assaults. Our wives and daughters are becoming too frightened to even leave our houses. Our roads are appalling, our power and water supplies are a disgrace, our telecommunication system a joke. Public transport is a farce. Squatters pour in, more and more, day after day.There are no acceptable excuses, not any more."
3. "I am a female from Lae and am sad to say that Lae is a place of demons. You go to toptown bus stop or Eriku and you will feel goose bumps running down your spine. Lae City is now run by pocket-pickers and street-sellers. They have an organised group where they carry out their illegal activities. They target the elderly, young women and new faces in town. They will even follow you into the shops and banks and harass you in front of the security guards. This is very scary. No-one cares what’s going on in the city. People are too scared to report them to police in fear of their lives. I was one of their victims and I am still traumatised. Commuters are afraid to go to the bus stops with their shopping bags, bilums and wallets as they are frequent targets. I don’t feel safe in my own city? Are there any leaders in Lae City? We desperately need help". — Traumatised victim, Lae