By SAMPSON BONAI
THE sound of Airlines PNG Dash 8 aircraft engine on the Wednesday morning of February 13 was heard by all as it circled above the Bulolo town before landing on the newly upgraded 1,500 meter airport runway.
The sound of its engine brought hundreds of Bulolo residents flocking excitedly to the airport to witness the official opening ceremony of the new look airport.
PNG Forest Products fire fighters officially welcomed the Airlines PNG aircraft on its maiden flight into Bulolo hosing it down with water as it slowly taxied in to the cheering of the local people who have gathered in numbers to witness the opening of the Bulolo airport.
Traditional dancers from East Sepik and Morobe welcomed the invited guests as they disembarked from the Dash 8 aircraft and escorted them to their allocated places.
Small children clung excitedly onto their mothers with twinkling eyes that were beaming with excitement to see the colorful opening program.
Those children were not around when the first Junker aircrafts first landed in the same airstrip in 1930s to transport heavy dredging equipments for the Bulolo Gold Dredging Company to conduct its mining activities in the area.
Pioneer BGD dredge masters and the locals who once worked on the famous Bulolo Gold Dredging machines in the 1930s will be turning in their graves at the sound of another aircraft hovering above their resting places in the Bulolo Valley to signal the start of gold mining operations again in the area.
The upgrading work on the airport runway was carried out by the landowner company from Hidden Valley Group and was jointly funded by Harmony Gold and PNG Forest Products at a cost of K500, 000 and took six weeks to complete the work.
History is about to repeat itself as the world famous Bulolo will once again witness the flying in of equipment and personnel to work at the Hidden Valley gold mine.
Although the opening of the Bulolo airport was relatively small and quiet it marked a significance milestone in the aviation history. It was the same airport servicing two different gold mining operations at two different eras.
Bulolo MP Sam Basil and Menyamya MP Benjamin Philip were accompanied by other dignitaries including Airlines PNG chief executive officer John Fitzgerald, Airlines PNG commercial manager Mark Craig, Airlines PNG commercial manager Darren Stocks and PNG Forest Products managing director Tony Honey.
Morobe Governor Luther Wenge, Morobe administrator Manasupe Zurenuoc, his deputy for administrative services Patilias Gamato, Program Advisor for lands Lawrence Billy and agriculture Giowing Belong traveled by road from Lae to officiate at the occasion.
Governor Wenge made a financial commitment to allocate K500, 000 for the construction of a new airport terminal building and appealed to the people to look after it well.
Harmony Gold general manager Adam Wright, PNG Forest Products managing director Tony Honey and Airlines PNG chief executive officer John Fitzgerald jointly agreed to reopen the airport to restore vital air services back into Bulolo.
Bulolo MP Sam Basil unveiled the bill board and made a financial commitment to secure additional funding to assist with the construction of a terminal building at the newly upgraded airport.
The reopening of the new airport will bring relief and economic benefit to the bulk of the people and the business community in Wau and Bulolo.

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