K820,000 deal for Huon Gulf

By ELLEN TIAMU
THREE service providers in Huon Gulf, Morobe, signed contracts on Monday worth about K820,000 from the district services improvement programme (DSIP) for electoral projects.
MP and chairman of the joint district planning and budget priorities committee Sasa Zibe said at the signing the DSIP had brought much improvement to the district.
However, he said the rural people still had not benefited much especially with much hype about the benefits of the LNG project.
Zibe urged the district management team to fast track payment so that the projects could begin immediately.
The service provi­ders who signed contracts were Waria Valley Eco Homes, Culture Link and Morobe Taro.
Morobe Taro mana­ger Amos Buieba said taro was a staple food of Morobeans and although widely grown at a subsistence level, it needed to be taken to a commercial level.
Morobe Taro will receive K150,000 to be used to encourage farming at a larger scale by villagers in Huon.
The company is working closely with NARI and anticipates marketing taro widely, especially to put it on the dining tables of mining companies in the country where most of the workforce are Papua New Guineans.
Waria Valley Eco Homes will receive K270,000 to build 12 new houses for health workers and teachers in the district.
Although the houses they build costs about K65,000 each at market price, they are building homes at K20,000 with costs minimised as they will be using timber and manpower from different localities. 
Manager Dusty Zamunu said his group was a service organisation that did not work for profit but built houses that meet public service standards.
Culture Link is a consortium which operates mainly along the Morobe coast and specialises in culture, marketing and tourism promotion.
In signing the groups deal yesterday, manager Maine Winny said eco-tourism was a new concept in the district and province and although villagers were interested, many did not know how to go about starting up. 
The consortium will receive K250,000 to support small guest houses.