Both East Taraka and West Taraka are located 7 km from Lae on Rigel Road. A tributary for the Bumbu River meanders through Taraka. East Taraka is predominately commercial and industrial while West Taraka is mostly residential.
Population
In 1963 it was estimated that 10% of Lae's population lived in "Shanty-town settlements which describe both Omili and Taraka and there is evidence that these settlements have grown well above the average rate of Lae.
Housing
In May 1992, another study examined migrant settlement in and around Lae examining Tent Siti and West Taraka. The study found that almost half of the informants came to Lae in the 1980s. The figure is much higher in Mouth Markham. East Sepik Province and the provinces in the Highlands stand out as places where the informants lived before they came to Lae. This tendency corresponds to the fact that most respondents were born in the Sepik and Highlands areas and less than half of them have had former migration experiences. The people from East Sepik tend to live in Mouth Markham, and those from the Highlands tend to concentrate in the West Taraka and Boundary Road settlements respectively. 57.6 percent of respondents came to Lae for employment. However, it is also true that their relatives, were staying in Lae before the respondents moved to Lae. In May 1993, a study focused on the West Taraka Housing scheme and found that tenants were significantly dissatisfied with their houses. Aspects of dissatisfaction referred to the size of houses, number of rooms and living/dining areas, lack of storage space, and poorly laid out and badly designed kitchen, toilet, and bathroom facilities. In 2011 another study on housing was conducted drawing on the 1973 - 1974 urban household survey which revealed that less than 40% of the urban households had built and owned the houses they lived in. Five years after the establishment of the National Housing Corporation, another urban household survey revealed that only 10% of all houses in Lae were either rented or leased directly and the corresponding figure for Port Moresby was 23%. Another study by the Bank of Papua New Guinea examined the demand for urban housing finance which found that two factors discouraged individual investment in urban home-ownership in Papua New Guinea. Firstly the rental housing market in Papua New Guinea was, and still is, heavily subsidised by the government and associated with paying rates, taxes and other regular repair and maintenance costs. Secondly most Papua New Guineans held strong ties with their rural areas and many people were unprepared to sever these ties for several reasons, for instance, fear of being accused by wantoks of running away from rural obligations. Public housing in Papua New Guinea is not only unavailable, but also unattainable for a large proportion of the urban population. It is evident that even the 1981 housing policy that encouraged national home-ownership schemes has not significantly increased home-ownership. In 2013 tenants in East Taraka were given notices for outstanding arrears as per their requirement to pay the National Housing Corporation.
Community Donations
In 2009 the Digicel foundation donated a Community Learning Centre for the West Taraka Dunda elementary school. One year earlier the school, which was built by the community, was destroyed by fire. There are over 200 children at the school which was established by the Dunda family in 1999. In 2013 the Rotary Club of Lae Huon Gulf deliver much needed school desks and chairs to Gantom School at East Taraka. The school has 1,020 pupils and included was 100 school desks, 250 chairs, 2 teacher’s desks, many library books and a generous quantity of sporting equipment.
Industry
East Taraka is home to many large and medium businesses. Between 1950-1960 peanut production was at an all-time high for the Markham Valley with K600,000 worth of exports to Australia. In response, Sanitarium established a peanut butter factory in Taraka. By 1974 there were zero exports.
