Parkop asks landowners to put up with government

Main Stories

By TREVOR WAHUNE
SIRINUMU dam landowners in Port Moresby have been asked to bear with the Government and the current financial situation it is facing.
National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop made the plea during a meeting at Sirinumu yesterday with Kumul Consolidated Holdings managing director Thomas Abe and officials from Eda Ranu and PNG Power Limited.
The landowners last weekend attempted to shut down the dam supplying water to Port Moresby and surrounding areas because of an unfulfilled promise by the authorities to upgrade the road to the area.
Parkop told the landowners although he was not a member of the National Executive Council, he would relay their grievances to the government.
“We (government) had to cut the budget from about K18 billion to K12 billion annually. That is a massive cut,” Parkop said.
Parkop said they would build the Sirinumu feeder road and other memorandum of understanding that had been neglected by the government.
Central provincial works manager Jason Vela told the landowners the Works department budget had been continuously cut back by 30 to 40 per cent every year and there was not much they could do to assist.
“Our normal budget stands around K600 million. However, we have only received K200 million. Obviously this meant that we could not cater for all roads networks.”
He clarified that the Sirinumu and Sogeri roads were the responsibility of the central province government. “However, the two national highways, Hiritano and Magi, are the responsibility of the works department,’ Vela said.