Airstrip on brink of closure

By BRADLEY MARIORI
THE Garaina Airstrip in Bulolo, Morobe, is on the brink of being closed due to no funding from the provincial administration for its upkeep, an official says.
Caretaker Kotoram Autia said there was no funding for maintenance since last year and people gave up cleaning after they were not paid.
“As a result, the airstrip is now covered with bushes and might be closed soon,” Autia said.
“I usually engage youths, sports groups and women to clean up the airstrip and then I bring an invoice to the provincial Works under the Morobe administration where they do the payments but the payments were not done since last year.
“There is no money and I can’t pay the workers, they gave up and left the airstrip, which is now covered in bush.”
Autia, who is also a health worker at Garaina, said he sometimes used his own machines and tools to clean the airstrip’s runway.
The airstrip is 1,900 metres long.
The Morobe government’s newly-announced agriculture aviation concept will need these airstrips up and working and the Morobe provincial physical planning board chairman and acting deputy provincial administrator – physical infrastructure and growth centre – Kissu Lucas said payments were not done last year because of funding constraints and they were hoping to do the payments this year.
Aviation Minister Sekie Agisa said rural airstrips were under Rural Airstrips Agency (RAA), which came under the Transport Department and this was a problem not only in Morobe, but many airstrips around the country, which were closed.
“They will be looked at once Government funds are given,” Agisa said.
“Before Independence, we have had roughly 800 airstrips.
“After Independence, we have roughly 600 and probably 400 airstrips are still existing in the country.”