Inland Rigo people plea for good roads

By VERONICA FRANCIS
Having good roads and access to basic services is a priority for all the people especially in rural and remote areas in the country.
However, for the people of Seba, Gevere, Debado and the Oman villages of inland Rigo, the story is different.
These people lived in the mountains of Rigo district bordering Oro and Central and they lacked proper basic services and most importantly good roads.
According to a villager from Gevere, Varina Sihehu, he said when there were no PMV trucks to bring them to Port Moresby to sell their produce; they walked for hours to Boregaina to catch a PMV.
“We brave the road condition and walk for hours to get into town to sell our fresh produce because we need money to pay for schools fees and for our basic necessities,” he said.
He added that the condition of the road was impenetrable for any ordinary vehicle.
Sihehu said the road had been in this condition for a long time and got worse every year when it rained.
“We want the authorities to help us. We do not need anything big but we want good roads and basic government services so that we can live a normal life,” he said.
Meanwhile, secretary for Rigo MP Karo Gimana told The National yesterday that they had previously carried out work on this road, however, because of the ongoing rain, the road deteriorated to the state it was now.
He said with the current disbursement of the district service improvement programme fund, they had already engaged a contractor, TeeGee Contractors, to fix the roads.
However, they are still waiting for the equipment.
“We are aware of the situation and have allocated funds to maintain the roads in that area and will soon be carried out,” he said.