Crime no problem as businessman opens K1.6 million lodge at Morata

A K1.6 million guesthouse has been opened in Morata, Port Moresby, by Southern Highlands businessman Alex Aipa.
It is the first in the area.
“The guesthouse was designed to provide similar services that hotels and other guesthouses provide, but at much cheaper rate to be affordable to ordinary Papua New Guineans,” Aipa said.
The guesthouse is called Rest Inn. It has 32 air-conditioned rooms with Hitron television service and a restaurant.
“Rest Inn is an outcome of humble beginnings,” Aipa said. “I started off with a small canteen on the piece of land where Rest Inn is now. The canteen assisted me to pay off the land.”
The guesthouse was built with the aid of a K1.2 million loan from the National Development Bank. It was his second loan with NDB
The first loan was for K300,000 in 2012 which Aipa used to build a four-unit apartment. However, only months into paying off the loan, the apartment burnt down.
“I would have given up but I thought to myself that it was not the end of the world. I went back to NDB and guaranteed them that I could still come up with a bigger and better property than the one which burnt down,” Aipa said.
“NDB granted me another loan of K1.2 million, to which I added an additional K400,000 from my own savings to complete the guesthouse.
“Rest Inn has employed 20 staff.”