Road access to market remains setback for Menyamya

By LUKE KAMA
FARMERS in Menyamya, Morobe can only watch farm produce such as Arabica coffee and fresh vegetables rot in the fields because there is no road access to the markets.
The concern was relayed to Works and Implementation Minister Michael Nali and Secretary David Wereh on Tuesday at the remote Menyamya station by Mathew Joseph, the executive officer to Menyamya MP Thomas Pelika. Nali, Wereh and Morobe Works manager Kingsford Kassen travelled by helicopter from Lae to Bulolo and Menyamya, then to Kerema in Gulf, to conduct an aerial inspection of the planned trans-national highway.
It will connect Lae to Port Moresby road through Bulolo, Menyamya and Kerema.
It will connect to the Hiritano Highway to Port Moresby.
Joseph said every year during the coffee season, one farmer would have an average of 15 to 20 bags of organically-grown Arabica coffee.
“Menyamya is one of the top producers of organically-grown Arabica coffee in the country. But access to market remains the greatest setback,” Joseph said.
“We have no road to transport our coffee to the markets. So they just rot away in the garden.”
Women’s representative in Menyamya District Development Authority Serah Ako said women usually carry coffee bags on their heads and walked through bush tracks to Bulolo to sell.
“We just carry a few kilograms which we sell to buy some basic things like oil, salt and soap. The rest is wasted (in the field),” she said.
Ako said Menyamya had arable land and a good climate for growing crops.
“Apart from coffee, other vegetables like cabbage, bulb onion, cabbage, carrots and broccoli grow very well here,” she said.
“But the only thing we need is a road.”
Nali and Wereh promised to look into the road problem.
“I came here and see the struggles. I will talk with the Government, our Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and our donors to convince them to get a road for you during this term of Parliament,” Nali said.