Islanders weigh in with dinghies

 By MOUA OMOA

TATANA villagers were caught by suprise  yesterday morning when more than 50 dinghies from Fishermen Island (Moukele) outside Port Moresby gathered at the course way to collect gravel.

Moukele United church chairman Itama Kila, who was among the group, said the gravel was for the current construction of their new church which was estimated to cost of more than K500,000.

“We are in the process of building our new church (Veava Rupuna No.2) and nearly completed the side walls when we ran out of gravel, so our ekalesia (members of the congregation) who have dinghies volunteered to come this morning and collect gravel.”

Kila said the construction work for the new church started last November and it had been a daunting task but it was for a worthy cause for the islanders to transport the heavy material for the contractor.

He said with the population of the island growing to more than 1,000 people, the old church (Veavu Rupuna No.1) which was opened in December 1988 was able to cater for the congregation, the people decided to pull the church down and build a bigger one.

“It is a very expensive exercise but we do it with reverence to our heavenly father. We are fortunate to have the support of our Motu Koita Assembly member, as well as our Moresby South MP and our sister church Tatana Araira United church.”

“Most part of the funding has come from the pockets of our Moukele fishermen and their families,” Kila said.

Meanwhile Kila said currently they had outstanding construction costs of more than K200,000 and he appealed to Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and other local businessmen to come forth with their pledges.