Lae


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

History

Lucas describes the history of Lae into four periods; the mission phase, the gold phase, the timber and agricultural phase and the industrial boom and many of the Germanic names were replaced by English or indigenous ones. Adolf Haven was then referred to as Morobe Harbor. Australian officials or kiaps were stationed at various locations within the area and in 1921 the military administration transitioned to a civilian administration, a gold prospector named Cecil John Levien was appointed District Officer of Morobe.
from 25th Brigade raised the Australian flag following the defeat of the Japanese.
On 1 January 1923 Levien acquired a mining right for the area and shortly after formed a syndicate called Guinea Gold . The Guinea Gold syndicate formed Guinea Airways Limited in November 1927. In 1927 Levien arranged for the construction of the airstrip at Lae to assist the gold mine productions around Wau.
Lae was declared a town under the New Guinea Boundaries Ordinance on 31 March 1931 at the height of the gold rush era and Lae became the prototype for New Guinean towns built up around airstrips. The Europeans lived to the East of Lae Airfield while the New Guineans lived to the West. Cargo arrived in Lae and then was transported by air to the goldfields in Wau.
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 impeded 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 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.
In 1971 the Australian Colonial Administration established the first properly constituted Local Government of Lae town and in 1972 Lae was proclaimed a city. 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.

Geology

Lae is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire and geologic instability has produced numerous faults, resulting in earthquakes.
Lae sits between the larger Indo-Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate on the South Bismarck Plate in the Ramu-Markham Fault Zone where the New Guinea Highlands Deforming Zone and South Bismarck tectonic plates are converging at up to 50 mm/yr. The city is caught in a giant geological vice and the seismic hazard is significant.
More than 15 years of measurements have been analysed with results indicating how rapidly Lae city and its survey network is deforming.
The Ramu-Markham Fault Zone, which follows the northern edge of the Markham Valley, is the active plate boundary between the South Bismarck Plate and tectonostratigraphic terranes within the New Guinea Highlands Deforming Zone. The Ramu-Markham Fault Zone has generated large thrust earthquakes. Geological evidence suggests that major earthquakes in pre-historic times have occurred in the Lae area, and that there is the potential for another large earthquake to occur anytime within the next 100 years .
The 1998 earthquake occurred near Vanimo resulting in 2200 casualties.

Mount Lunaman

Mount Lunaman is high and has a radio tower at the highest point marked by red fixed obstruction lights to assist navigation. At the base of Mount Lunaman at the southern and south-eastern face are the suburbs of Voco Point and Chinatown. The terraces are located to the West of Mount Lunaman.
Mount Lunaman is known to the locals as Lo' Wamung, which means "first hill", Hospital Hill and Fortress Hill by the German settlers.
Mount Lunaman and the Lae urban area have been the subject of several tectonic studies relating to plate shift.
Mount Lunaman was an important landmark for both Japanese and the Allies:
After the war it was believed that Mount Lunaman contained the remains of many Japanese soldiers who defended Lae using tunnels:

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.
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.

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.

Climate

Lae features a tropical rainforest climate under Köppen's climate classification, more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than the trade winds and with no cyclones so equatorial. The area experiences an extraordinary amount of precipitation, averaging roughly of rainfall annually. In fact in no month does Lae, on average, see less than of precipitation. Temperatures show little variance during a typical year in the city, with January temperatures averaging roughly and July temperatures averaging.

Economy

Industry

Lae is strategically located in that it can supply the Highlands, Islands, Southern and Momase regions. Large businesses include:
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, sweet potatoes, 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 the city.

Notable landmarks

University of Technology

The Papua New Guinea University of Technology is based outside 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 Australia and New Zealand.

Lae International Hotel

Lae International Hotel is an important conference centre and has hosted some notable political figures over the years. Lae International Hotel has 100 rooms, furnished with wooden furnitures and 4 luxury suites. It contains the Vanda Restaurant, Luluai's Italian Restaurant and Kokomo Coffee Shop.

Lae War Cemetery

Lae War Cemetery was established in 1944, and is located adjacent to the Botanical Gardens in the center 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 resting place of two Victoria Cross recipients.

Lae Botanic Gardens

Lae Botanic gardens are not always open to the public. There is an old Australian Aeroplane in the center of the gardens.

Bumbu river

The Bumbu river starts at the Adzera Mountain range, through Taraka to Kamkumung, Butibam, Bumbu and to the Huon Gulf. Following a flood in 1992, the population was relocated to a temporary settlement called Tent Siti.

Angau General Hospital

Angau General Hospital is located in the central Lae area next to the old Lae Airfield. It is a main referral hospital for the general Morobe Province area, as well as the other provinces connected by road link. It contains the only Radiotherapy facility in the country and thus serves as the main referral center for cancer patients.

Lae (Nadzab) Airport

Nadzab Airport is located outside Lae City, along the Highlands Highway, next to the Markham River. Local buses operate to and from the city, in addition escorted secured transfers are available for transport into the city.
From Port Moresby, Lae is accessible only by domestic flights. Air Niugini, Airlines of Papua New Guinea and Travel Air "Mangi lo Ples" services the Port Moresby-Lae route.

Other significant locations

Visitors must ensure that they have proper health insurance. Lae International Hospital is of good developing world standard. It is a 19-bed facility with 1 emergency bed. It is staffed by 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. There is also a public hospital called Angau Memorial Hospital located on Markham Road.
Travelers to Lae should seek expert medical advice regarding malaria prophylaxis as well as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis and typhoid vaccinations. There was a significant outbreak of cholera based in the Morobe District in 2009 and consideration of vaccination would be prudent.

Twin town