Kikori receives belated Xmas present

By ERIC PIET
REMOTE Kikori in Gulf received a belated K5 million Christmas presents from MP Soroi Eoe yesterday.
Eoe handed out 39 banana boats and outboard engines, three generators and 50 1000-litre water tanks to district chief executive officer Tars Sauka at Lealea village, Port Moresby.
Starting next week, the items will be transported to Kikori and distributed to all tribal groups in the four local-level governments.
According to Youth Religion and Community Development Minister Eoe, the items were purchased from Ela Motors for K5 million, using the district services improvement programme (DSIP) funds.
He said Kikori district was surrounded by many rivers.
Eoe said mobility to reach services such as health and education was mainly through water transport, hence, it was money well spent.
“Some people will ask why I spent money on these items, instead of having used it on other areas such as education, health and school fees,” he said.
“The reason is that Kikori district is waterlogged. It’s all surrounded by a network of rivers.
“The only way our people access services is through the river system.
“The province has never been connected in terms of service delivery. This is a way to provide accessibility for the people to services.
“If I concentrate on Ihu LLG, which is where the special economic zone project would be, the other three LLGs would feel left out.
“That is the exact reason why I am doing this – to satisfy everyone.”
Sauka praised the approach taken by the MP to see that everyone was considered.
“In the past, elected MPs in the district only responded to the needs of their supporters for Minister Eoe, is for all,” he said.
The Kikori special economic zone project in Ihu LLG was approved by Government last November.
It consists of a deep water port, free trade zone and associated projects including an industrial park, petroleum park and forestry park.
This prompted Eoe to purchase the items for his people.