Govt told to consider road under scheme

Madang governor Peter Yama has asked the government to consider the construction of the Raicoast and Usino-to-Simbu highway under the Ramu Nickel tax credit scheme.
Yama made a public call to Prime minster Peter O’Neil on Friday at Usino government station when almost half of the cabinet accompanied the PM to launch several government projects for the Usino-Bundi district.
He said Usino-Bundi and Raicoast housed the multi-million Ramu Nickel project and it was time significant infrastructure developments were considered for the districts.
Yama specifically named the Raicoast road and bridges and the highway from Usino to Bundi, Snow pass and Mondia pass to Simbu to be fully developed and sealed under the scheme.
He said the initial Ramu Nickel agreement signed in Beijing, China, in 2000 did not benefit the people so a new agreement had to be signed.
“The prime minster has to get his team together, the company will get its team together and I will get mine and we do a new agreement so that out people get the full benefits they deserve,” Yama said.
He said landowners of OK Tedi and other mining projects in the country had become millionaires and wanted Raicoast and the Usino-Bundi people to be the same.
Usino Bundi MP Jimmy Uguro thanked O’Neil and the government delegation for launching various projects in his district.
Uguro said Usino-Bundi was known as one of the least-develop districts in the country.