Maru funds his dream

EDUCATION

By SYLVESTER WEMURU
EVERY district throughout the country is given the same amount of district service improvement programme (DSIP) funding every year for social and economic infrastructure and service delivery
As for Yangrou-Saussia MP Richard Maru, he wants to make sure that nobody is left out in basic services.
The second-term MP has delivered some badly needed services and hopes to bring more to make Yangoru-Saussia a model district in East Sepik and PNG..
In his first term the Yangoru-Saussia District Development Authority (DDA) upgraded feeder roads connecting some of the remotes parts of the district to the provincial capital, Wewak. After connecting the villages with roads they tried to build good classrooms and staff houses in schools to attract teachers to the district.
“I believe in education and I want to make sure that my district in the future will have more educated people so I am investing more in education.
“When there are good staff houses and classrooms it will attract good teachers to the school so they will give their best to the students.”
He said Yangoru-Sausia was a big district and with the funding he received he was trying his best to make sure that everybody from the four LLGs benefited from the services delivered.
“I cannot make everyone happy within one year but I will try all my best to make sure that vital services such as roads, schools and health services reach the people in my district. With the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) project 19 out of the 96 wards in the district now have water supply reaching communities and schools.”
Maru has also signed contract forpower to be connected to the district’s two new high schools at Wingei and Numbo before the new school year starts.
Last week the MP visited some schools in his district.
On Monday he opened three classrooms and two new staff houses at Urimo and then went to Kamanbruka in the Sausso LLG and opened a four-in-one classroom block. The cost of the classrooms at Urimo is about half a million kina and the classroom at Kamanbruka cost about K200,000.
Both schools are located in very remote parts of the district and had been using bush material classrooms and staff houses.
Board chairman of Urimo Primary School Leo Maniwa said the burden of cutting sago leaves and replacing classrooms and teachers’ houses for more than 30 years would now end because of the permanent classrooms and the staff houses built.
On Tuesday Maru visited Bugusu Primary School in West Yangoru LLG and opened another four-in-one classroom block.
Bugusu was not registered and operated with borrowed teaching positions and under a temporary code given by the provincial education board. The school had so far graduated three grade eight classes.
It was registered this year with 15 funded positions and which was seen as a big achievement. The school’s staff and board were pleased with how the local MP had been supporting them to bring the school to its current state where it was now registered.
Speaking at the opening of the classroom on Tuesday one of the senior teachers at the school, Elizabeth Maken acknowledged Maru for his continuous support since its establishment. She said they had been teaching on borrowed positions and now they were happy that their 15 funded positions were ready.
Maru visited Nagsmikiel Primary School in West Yangoru LLG on Wednesday and opened a classroom and in the afternoon he visited Kukwawi Primary School and opened two new staff houses there. Kukwawi is also a newly established primary school in the district.
On Thursday Maru attended two graduations at two different elementary schools and made commitments to assist them.
Late in the afternoon he visited the Simbomie and Sengeri villages and presented a cheque of K50,000 for them to start work on their new primary school. He said the two villages had been waiting for a new school and told the people to work hard and make sure that the school was completed next year to start enrolling students in 2021.
He also visited Kwahuie village and presented a cheque of K90,000 for the Wash project for the village.
He said the Wash project was important because mothers would not be running to the river to fetch water for their households.

“ I see that most of the students from Wingei are bright but the distance to get to Yangoru Secondary School had made some of them stay home or do not perform well in school.”

Bugusu, Warabung, Nagsmikel and Wingei primary schools are feeder schools to the new Wingei High school which will enroll its first 120 students next year.
“I see that most of the students from Wingei are bright but the distance to get to Yangoru Secondary School had made some of them stay home or do not perform well in school.
“I saw that there was a need so I spent the money from the district to build the new high school and I want students from my district to fill up all the spaces and not leave their spaces to students from other districts.
“I know if many students from the district do not do well students from other districts will come in to fill up the spaces.”
Maru also challenged the students from his district to be among the top five in their respective high schools in the district to be selected attend to the Yangoru School of Excellence. He said the school of excellence would only enroll 60 students who excel in all subjects in their grade 10 examinations.
The school of excellence built at Yangoru was funded by the Australian Government and will start enrolling students next year.
With the aim to improve human resources the Yangoru-Saussia DDA has funded schools to build new classrooms and staff houses to ensure that teachers are attracted to teach in the district.
He said Israel was one of the most powerful countries in the world today because it has a large population of highly educated people in nearly all fields.
Its innovations in agricultural technolgy for example have been a marvel to many other nations of the world.
“Israel does not have fertile land like PNG but they produce crops and sell them all over the world,” Maru said.
“They depend on the human resources that they have to develop their country so my district must be the same in the future.”