Motu Koita people get six new vehicles

MOTU Koita Assembly chairman Miria Ikupu has purchased six new vehicles worth over K600,000 from Ela Motors last week to assist the association.
Mr Ikupu said it was the first time the Motu Koita Assembly had bought brand new vehicles from a dealership.
“Services for our people have been lacking because we have not been mobile but now we can move around and provide service for our people.
“I decided that we needed proper vehicles that would save cost because office vehicles were expensive to maintain.
“Motu Koitabu had been given assistance by the National Capital District (NCD) because we are part of them but since 2007, we have become a government of our own under an ACT created by the Prime Minister,” Mr Ikupu said.
“So there are two governments operating in NCD, one is the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) and the other one is the elected government which I represent as chairman.
“I represent the indigenous people who own this land where the city is built and NCDC represents the appointed people so those are two different groups.
“Under the system, we are supposed to be funded by NCDC but unfortunately we have not been,” Mr Ikupu said.
“Since I became deputy governor and the chairman of the Motu Koita, we have been given lip service by NCDC in terms of purchasing of our vehicles.
“Today marks the first ever occasion where the Motu Koitabu government itself has decided to go out on its own to buy these vehicles Mr Ikupu said. 
NCDC however, had only given them one vehicle since the establishment of the new government which was used by the manager.
Mr Ikupu said they had been requesting for new vehicles but it had all fallen on deaf ears.
“We have used a different fund to buy these vehicles rather than the funds which had been given to us by NCDC on a monthly bases.”
Mr Ikupu thanked the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare for giving the Motu Koitabu people a one off K10 million funding last year.
“We have used part of that funding to buy these six vehicles and with the existing three vehicles we will be able to provide service to our people,” he said.