Fly locals push road project

By ADRIAN MATHIAS
THE Ok Menga-Olsobip rural road construction project in the North Fly district, Western, has completed eight of the 52km despite limited funds, equipment, expertise and geographical barriers, project coordinator Dimus Daksep says in a report.
Daksep said it was a major impact project coordinated by the Olsobip LLG.
“We did not award the project to any contractors because our past experiences showed that when projects were awarded to contractors they misused the money and disappeared without completing the projects,” he said.
“Learning from these experiences, the Olsobip LLG administration has taken the responsibility of coordination and organisation of the project since last May and constructed 8km so far.”
He said the initial construction started on May 23 last year and ended last Dec 31 and was progressing well.
He said once the road was completed, it would be a catalyst for change in bringing development in terms of government services to the rural population of Olsobip.
“Local people have taken ownership of the project, which was evident in their work performance and commitment.
“This was a positive approach and I, as a coordinator, hope that this will continue until the completion of the project,” he said.
Daksep said the Ok Menga-Olsobip road project was a much-talked about subject for the people in Olsobip for more than a decade.
He said construction of the road was prompted by the experiences of tragic airline crashes in the area that claimed many innocent lives over the years and the terrible experiences of women, children and men been carried away by fast-flowing rivers while walking to Tabubil.
 for basic services.
“This dream of building a road was realised in 2007 when the Fly River provincial government further endorsed the road proposal to link Olsobip with the urban centres of Tabubil and Kiunga as a catalyst to bring development to improve and sustain the livelihood of the rural population,” Daksep said.
He said the road project was one of the major impact projects undertaken by the Olsobip LLG after a feasibility study in 2007.
The project is funded under the Special Support Grant (SSG) kept under a trust account in Waigani, in the National Capital District.
He said K600,000 had been spent so far on hiring of skilled and unskilled labourers, fuel, food supplies and maintenance of machinery. 
Daksep said there were 55 local workers on the site and that comprised of operators, mechanics and servicemen, who were former employees of OTML and Star West Constructions Ltd.
He said they were serious about taking responsibility and ownership of the project.
“The major impediments to the project are unpredictable mountain weather, no project car to transport fuel, food and workforce, prolonged delay in releasing of funds from the provincial headquarters in Kiunga and breakdown of machinery,” he said.
Daksep thanked the Fly River provincial government, North Fly district administration, the workforce, and the community who had helped in the completion of the 8km portion of the road so far.
He is appealing to the people of Olsobip LLG, Star Mountain LLG and the people of goodwill to help with resources like fuel and food rations.