Kairuku-Hiri MP gets ‘green light’ from Ina’oae villagers

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
Ina’oae villagers finally agreed yesterday to have a by-pass built to allow motorists travelling along the Hiritano Highway avoid the eroding banks of the Angabanga River in Central province.
The villagers had agreed with Kairuku-Hiri MP Paru Aihi at Ina’oae village to allow the by-pass to be built while any form of compensation payments could be done later.
A jubilant Mr Aihi said that such agreement would enable everyone, including the villagers to benefit.
“After all, we are talking about bringing in much needed and long over due developments to this rural area to improve our daily livelihoods. We must not allow money to hinder our progress,” he stressed.
Mr Aihi also called on Central and Gulf Governors Alphones Moroi and Havila Kavo to help fund the building of the by-pass.
This agreement struck up between the villagers and Mr Aihi will ensure that the rest of the Kairuku and Mekeo villages on the other side of the river, with people in Gulf, will not be cut off from receiving goods and services from Port Moresby.
For several years, Ina’oae villagers had been in dispute with Esupaiboa villagers over the land identified to build the by-pass. However, the river was rapidly eroding the banks threatening to cut off the highway.
Also, a total of K200,000 provided by the past Central and Gulf provincial and national governments to build a by-pass allegedly went missing.
On Feb 17, 2003, Central Governor Alphones Moroi and the then Gulf governor Chris Haiveta and then Works minister (now Commerce and Industry ) Gabriel Kapris had pooled this money on February 2004 at the Central provincial government office at Konedobu in Port Moresby.
It is understood that this money was used to build the first by-pass which was later washed away by the river.