Road brings tears of joy

By PETER WARI
‘ASK not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country’ is the famous line from a speech by former United States President John F Kennedy during his inaugural address on Jan 20, 1961.
After waiting for too long, a community in the Nipa-Kutubu district of Southern Highlands decided to build their own feeder road – a 10 kilometer stretch winding through some rugged terrain.
A young businessman and community leader, Charles Andaiyo raised his hands and told the community made up of six council wards in the Poroma LLG that he would help them with an excavator and K5,000 initial funding for fuel drums.
The launching of the community road project at Parita Junction in Poroma early Dec last year brought tears of joy to the people. It was what they were waiting for – someone to give them machines to build their road and they would do the rest.
The community contributed K20,000 and 60 live pigs to be sold to purchase fuel drums and lunch for the construction workers.
People who operate little businesses and public servants contributed 52 fuel drums and the road work has reached four kilometers already.
Andaiyo said people must not always wait for the Government to do something for them but must try to participate in nation building and do something that would benefit them.
He said after seeing the people’s desire to have the road, he gave them the excavator and K5,000 as initial funding to purchase fuel but they did so much to support themselves.
“I am overwhelmed with what you have done and it shows the nation that you have been longing for so long to have a road linking your villages. Only God sees the hearts of men and rewards them accordingly,” he said.
Unlike other districts in the province, Nipa-Kutubu is highly populated and has steep mountains and the machine consumed a lot more fuel to cut through the difficult terrain. Poroma LLG has been one of the LLG known for tribal fights, robberies and holdups along the national Highlands Highway leading to Kutubu and the new Hela province.
These attitudes have gradually changed and youths are now hungry to enter school and participate in church and sports oriented activities.
The community had the yearning to build their own road but was unable to access an excavator. Today, since they have the machine, the council wards are working together to build the road in a new trend.
The sound of the excavator has forced them to contribute resources for the successful completion of the road.
Construction work team leader Jacob Pamonda said the road would benefit Kesu, Kusa 1 and 2, Kum 1 and 2, and Upa council wards that have many public servants, an aid post, primary and elementary schools.
He said the road would promote more agricultural activity, easy access to schools, health facilities and importantly improve cash flow and public servants would be returning back to their villages to be with their families.
“What the people have contributed for the work is not a waste, God will reward them. These people have been struggling because of negligence by successive governments and finally they are doing something to show this nation that people can do things if their call to the Government falls on deaf ears.
“The poor people dropped tears when contributing money and pigs and it depicts the hardship they had faced for many years and finally their prayers have been answered.”
He said when the Government fails to help such a tiny community, there were other tiny communities in the country who facing the same problem so people have to take matters into their own hands.
Kusa Ward 2 councilor Pu Emya thanked Andaiyo for looking into the people’s need and said he would work together with the other five councilors to organise the people and have the road completed.
“Nobody is poor as God has blessed us with many things and we must use those blessings to help ourselves and make life easier. People say they are hungry, have no money and basic items just because they are too lazy,” he said.
He said God blessed everyone every day and they must make use of these resources and help each other so that at the end of the day, they all achieve something.
He said there were many poor people living in remotest parts of this nation and they too were waiting for the Government to look into their needs.
He said what the community did in Poroma LLG must be a lesson to others living in the remote areas as they cannot keep on waiting, because some would die without achieving their dreams and desires. Roads play a vital role in linking students to school, producers to market, workers to jobs and the sick to hospitals and are vital to any development agenda.
About 85 per cent of the country’s population lives in the rural areas and 75 per cent of households depend on subsistence agriculture.
The lesson to be learnt from this self-help road project in Nipa-Kutubu is that every community wants the Government to help them with their needs, however, they must participate and contribute to achieving those dreams instead of merely waiting for the Government.