Connecting forgotten Maramuni

COVER STORY

By MALUM NALU
AS my good friend, veteran PNG helicopter pilot Captain James Pima looks for a hole in the clouds, I marvel at the magnificent natural tapestry below.
Towering mountains, meandering rivers, cascading waterfalls, green virgin forests (which I hear later teem with wildlife).
Amidst all these runs the 57km Maramuni Road, a lifeline to this cloud-covered Shangri-la between Enga and East Sepik, a land that time has forgotten.
Building this road has been no mean feat and is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of Wabag MP and Fisheries Minister Dr Lino Tom, and his team of skilled Engan operators and Department of Works and Highways, who have done the seemingly-impossible with a shoestring budget of only K15 million.
Behind Dr Lino has been Enga’s ‘Action Governor’, Sir Peter Ipatas, under whose leadership Enga has risen from the last to be among the first in PNG.
The pilot, who knows Papua New Guinea like the back of his hand, points down below to the highest point of the road.
“This is the highest road in the country at about 10,000 feet,” he tells me.

The area is known to be rich in gold and agriculture and has huge untapped potential in tourism, however, there was no road and people used to walk to Wabag – which took several days – until now when it takes only three to four hours.
Through the hole in the clouds, I see Pasalagus station before me, with hundreds of people and vehicles from all of Enga and other places linked by the Highways Highway, who have come to see Prime Minister James Marape open the new road. Marape concurrently launches the Enga-Sepik Highway which will link Maramuni to Karawari in East Sepik.
He is accompanied by Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas, Works and Highways Minister Michael Nali, Angoram MP Salio Waipo representing the people of East Sepik, Tourism Arts and Culture Minister Isi Henry Leonard, Labour and Industrial Relations Minister and Lagaip-Porgera MP Tomait Kapili, and man-of-the-moment Dr Lino who hosts the momentous occasion.
Works and Highways Secretary David Wereh and representatives from other Government departments and agencies are also present.
I can see the joy and emotion on the faces of the people as we land.
PM Marape tells the people his government is connecting rural PNG like never before under its signature ‘Connect PNG’ programme.
He’d flown to Maramuni immediately after arriving from Jakarta, Indonesia, where he led a government and business delegation and overnighted in Pasalagus before returning to Port Moresby the next day.
The Prime Minister announces further funding of K10 million for the Maramuni Road and K8 million to start work on the Enga-Sepik Highway from Maramuni to Karawari.

PM Marape commends Sir Peter and Dr Lino for their vision and foresight for the “forgotten” people of Maramuni.
“We are trying to connect all rural areas right throughout the country,” he says.
“In this year’s Budget, we have allocations for 163 roads throughout the country.”
Marape says Maramuni is one of these “missing links” which include Tabubil-Telefomin linking Western to West Sepik, Karamui-Kundiawa in Chimbu, Finschhafen-Lae in Morobe and many others.
“We are trying to connect all these missing links,” he says.
“Over the last three years, we have spent K15 million on the Maramuni Road – which is not a lot of money. To break down mountains along the Maramuni Road would require K50 to K60 million. I want to thank the leaders of Enga, especially Governor Ipatas, and Dr Lino for making it possible.”
Marape also commends the construction team for being honest and hardworking to complete the road and avoiding unnecessary expensive contractors.
“I want to thank Dr Lino, Governor Ipatas, the team on the ground including local boys who handled the machines, for putting smiles on the faces of both young and old at Maramuni,” he says.

“This place has gold, coffee and so many other resources. However, for so long, we have forgotten them until now.”
It’s not often that Betty Dolai dresses up so well, however, opening of the Maramuni Road is all the more reason to do so.
“I’m so happy that our MP has built this new road and brought the prime minister here,” she tells me as she fights back tears.
“This area is known for tribal fighting, however, the new road and the visit of the prime minister have brought us all together. God knows the happiness I feel in my heart.
“It used to take us three to four days, sometimes a whole week, to walk to Wabag and sleep in the thick jungle. Now, Dr Lino has built us a new road, we can easily travel to Wabag on vehicles.”
Dolai says there is so much fresh produce that Maramuni can supply to Wabag and other urban centres.
“We grow peanuts, bananas, sugar cane, taro, sago, kaukau, tomatoes, cabbages, capsicum, potatoes, everything grows here,” she says.
“We used to just grow and eat these ourselves, but now that Dr Lino has built us a road, we now have access to the market in Wabag.”
Joel Dia is in traditional finery as he wanders among the crowd, welcoming visitors, who in the past only came once in a blue moon.
“I am here to see the prime minister,” he tells me.
“I am here to sing and dance, I have brought my kundu and axe, and am all dressed up.
“I am so happy to see the new road and all the vehicles.
“This area is known for tribal fighting, however, this event has united and brought us all together.”

One of the real heart-warming stories of the occasion is that of a group of 12 young cyclists from Lae who show the people of Maramuni the meaning of “wan kantri (one country)”.
The group, known as ‘Lae Pedal Power’, which has already cycled several parts of the country, reached Maramuni last Friday night after a whole day on the Maramuni Road.
Lae Pedal Power is a motley crew of young men from all over the city who advocate for peace and unity by cycling around the country.
They just missed out on the opening of the Maramuni Road by PM Marape, who in his opening address, spoke of the Maramuni Road and Enga-Sepik Highway as a means to unite the country.
PM Marape acknowledged the boys from Lae as he was leaving Maramuni on Saturday.
The group travelled to Wabag from Lae with their bicycles on a PMV and then cycled to Maramuni on the new, steep and unsealed road.
They received a standing ovation from the people of Maramuni for their courage and determination as they pedalled in waving the flags of Papua New Guinea and Morobe.
Group president Gabe Bago, from Morobe Patrol Post in the Huon Gulf, tells me the cycling group was formed to turn young people away from a life of crime.
They had intended to cycle all the way to East Sepik, however, had to stop at Maramuni as that was where the road ended.
“It took us a whole day for the 12 of us Lae boys to cycle from Wabag to Maramuni,” Bago says.
“It was really great to stop at villages along the way to Maramuni and talk with the people.
“Engans are not bad people, rather, they are very good people. They are loving and caring people as they showed us all the way from Wabag to Maramuni.
“We are here to test the new road and promote the message of unity, ‘wan kantri’.”
Works and Highways Secretary Wereh says the “unthinkable” has happened.
“Very tough, very-mountainous region geography-wise and terrain-wise,” the veteran civil engineer says.
“The unthinkable has happened. Our local MP, in partnership with our Works plant and transport division here, have been able to put together a consolidated effort. It’s exciting, it’s the happiest moment, for the road access to open after many years of no road link to this part of the country.
“All in all, it’s a great achievement, which is what ‘Connect PNG’ is all about – which is reaching the unreachable and touching the untouched.
“People who have never seen cars since Independence in 1975 are now starting to see cars.”

• Malum Nalu works with the Office of the Prime Minister