Jimi a top Highlands district: Dept report

Jimi is one of the best performing districts in the Highlands.
The Department of Implementation and Rural Development has ranked it the best in  terms of service delivery and compliance in administrative guidelines and financial instructions. Jimi has submitted its quarterly district services improvement programme (DSIP) acquittal reports and became the first district in the region to access its district support grant (DSG) over the years.
This was revealed during the presentation of last year’s DSIP acquittal reports to the department in Port Moresby last Friday.
Once regarded as the remotest district in Jiwaka with the least government services, Jimi is undergoing a major facelift in infrastructure development and other vital services. The people of Jimi are witnessing  projects such as roads, bridges, classrooms, health centres, aid posts and LLG chambers which successive governments had not managed to deliver.
Jimi MP Mai Dopp said the Jimi District Development Authority (JDDA)  prioritised roads in the district because other necessary services such as health, education could follow.
Dopp said the JDDA engaged the PNG Defence Force engineering battalion from Igam Barracks which is upgrading and the maintaining Jimi Highway.
The partnership between JDDA and the battalion has seen the signing of a second phase deployment of engineers for the construction of two bridges currently underway. In education, JDDA supports students in teachers colleges.