Kabwum district’s funds properly managed

I HOPE this will satisfy “Bonz@bcb” and “Gundu Galem” who wrote to The National.
Kabwum District  spent around K3 million in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
Only in 2010 did the district spend over K4 million of its DSIP funds.
If the authors had done their homework, they would find that these amounts are well below what other districts are spending.
To start and complete developmental projects like roads, bridges, schools and health facilities, etc in a remote and rugged electorate like Kabwum is a mammoth task.
If you have been to Kabwum lately, you would know that all materials, equipment and vital supplies like fuel are transported by boat to Wasu, then by trucks to Kabwum.
It is a long and expensive exercise and with Lutheran Shipping doing its cargo runs along that route on an ad-hoc basis, it adds to the difficulties faced by the district.
This is routine for Selepet LLG and parts of Deyamos and Komba LLGs.
All of Yus LLG and most parts of the latter two LLGs are accessible only through light aircrafts.
You would therefore realise that over half the project budgets goes to transportation costs.
The Morobe provincial government under Luther Wenge has done very little to assist.
The office of the Kabwum MP has nothing to do with the commitments and promises of the former Morobe governor.
Komba and Yus high schools are  the MP’s call and remains hot air until he was dethroned.
The Wasu/Kabwum Coffee Mill and its renaming was and still is an in-house matter for Wenge and his cronies.
We welcome all concerned to check our office for copies of the JDP and BPC meeting minutes as well as the district treasury office for DSIP cheque printouts.
No DSIP money has gone into Ukata Coffee Mill although requests kept coming.
Kabwum has limited funds and so much to do that such “paper coffee mills” were not even considered for a second.
By the way, all our fathers lost their shares in Wasu/Kabwum Coffee Mill and only those in charge at that time can tell us what actually happened.

JJ Zoriong
Kabwum district project
management team officer
Via email