Lera reimburses money for bridge maintenance

THE Java community in Panguna, Central Bougainville, had their money reimbursed by the Minister for Bougainville Affairs and regional MP for Bougainville Joe Lera after they paid for maintenance and repairs of the Java Bridge.
Lera took the initiative in 2014 to engage the Java community to work on the bridge but due to lack of funding, the community took on the responsibility to do it at their own cost.
He reimbursed K103,666.08.
Lera’s officers travelled to Java and made the payment last Friday.
From the amount, K25,666 was paid to the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Builders for helping the locals with the maintenance and K78,000 to the Java community.
Lera’s senior officer James Hasunn thanked the Java community for the  job.
Hasunn said Lera was happy that the locals had taken ownership of the project, which encouraged other communities in the region to do likewise.
Hasunn said engaging the community as development partners in bringing much needed services to the rural population was the way to go.
Java chief Wendelinus Bitanuma thanked Lera for his commitment.