Mishap prompts call for services

 PEOPLE of Sialum, in Morobe, are demanding better government services following the death of six people at sea after a boat capsized.

The six Sialum locals were part of a group of 14 people travelling in a dinghy between Lae and Sialum last weekend.

Four children were among the six who died. Two were found on the Finschhafen-Tewai Siassi coast, while the other two bodies were found at sea.

Sialum locals, who were in Lae yesterday, said transportation infrastructure and services in Sialum was poor.

They called on Tewai-Siassi MP Mao Zeming to improve services quickly. He could not be reached for comment. 

They said they had to risk travelling to Wasu station to board a Lutheran Shipping vessel or travel by dinghy to Lae via Finschhafen, through the treacherous Bobongara seas because there were no roads, jetties and bridges.