Bulolo HQ to be moved to Wau

By PISAI GUMAR
BULOLO district administration headquarters will be moved back to Wau, local MP Sam Basil says.
The K8 million office complex will be built from the K200,000 (2%) royalty paid monthly by the Morobe provincial administration from the 18% provincial royalty received from Morobe Mining Joint Venture (MMJV).
Basil said that the royalty was halted during former governor Luther Wenge’s regime but was resumed after Kelly Naru became governor.
Naru assured the people that it was unfair for government and companies to extract wealth from peoples land without investing back.
“Bulolo district was the custodian of the gold therefore Wau-Bulolo rightfully deserves to develop its infrastructures to serve improve human livelihoods,” Naru said when officiating at the Bulolo district cultural show in Wau last September.
Basil announced the relocation of district headquarters last week. He was accompanied by the technical team currently drafting the building plan.
“The plan will be submitted to central supplies tenders board to tender the contract for eligible contractors to apply and construct the office complex,” he said.
“A double story commercial centre will also cater for other stake holders include Bank South Pacific, post office, PNG Power, police station and automatic telling machine lobby whilst the administration office will occupy the second floor.”
The original headquarters was in Wau but former MP Samson Napo decided to move it to Bulolo, which is also central to Mumeng, Buang, Watut and Wau itself.
“The reason to shift the headquarters back to Wau, its original location, is in anticipation that the boundaries commission might separate Wau-Bulolo boundary in 2017,” Basil said.
Basil urged the Hidden Valley landowners to consider the development of Bulolo district in the memorandum of agreement review to cater for district’s infrastructures development through royalties from the mine.
He also called on the provincial government and MMJV not to neglect the Bulolo district.