Elementary school receives new classroom

Students and teachers of Yanglam Elementary school in Rai Coast, Madang, now have a new classroom, thanks to the Ramu Nico community development fund (CDF).
The classroom, which was built at a cost of K50,000, was commissioned on Aug 28 by the company’s community affairs supervisor Kuipa Tony, with the Education standards officer for Astrolabe Bay local level government Josephine Kalup.
Chairman of the Coastal Pipeline Landowners Association (LOA), Steven Saud, told the people of Yanglam that the association had placed education as its first priority when it was given its first share of the CDF for last year.
Saud, who was the guest speaker, said his priority was on human resources in Rai Coast.
Tony said Ramu Nico, in 2019, had allocated K1.2 million to the four LOA annually as community development fund as per the clause 13 of the revised compensation agreement (2019).
The beneficiaries of the fund are the customary landowners and residents of the project tenements in the Kurumbukari, Inland pipeline (Maigari), Coastal pipeline and Basamuk areas.
Tony said the community development fund was established to support community development initiatives within the immediate project impacted communities.
It is a discretionary fund aimed at engaging landowner participation and involvement in community projects using a flexible demand-driven funding mechanism that provides financial support for development projects in health, education, technical training, water supply and sanitation, agriculture and livestock production, law and order, customary obligations and gender advocacy.