MP gives village K1.2m

By JAMES APA GUMUNO
A MODEL village in the Hagen Central area of Western Highlands province has received a K1.2 million boost from their local MP, William Duma.
Duma is also the petroleum and energy minister. He presented the cheque to the people of Jika Komapi village last Friday when he was invited to launch their Kekewati community development association.
Duma told the villagers he was happy to support them because they were a model village in his electorate where a majority of the people were engaged in large scale agriculture activities to supply the local markets over the years.
He said he was also impressed with the housing scheme their association had initiated to build permanent houses for every family in the village.
The K1 million would be used to expand various projects such as piggery (K150,000), poultry (K100,000), vegetables farming (K50,000), potato farming (K100,000), Kundunuga Popral road maintenance (K300,000), rural electrification (K200,000), and new Koma health centre (K100,000).
The remaining K200,000 would be used in their housing scheme where the association would help members to seek counterpart funding.
He said the housing scheme was like a pilot project. If it worked out well, the whole of Hagen Central would adopt the concept and he would provide similar assistance in their respective communities.
He said the population had increased making it difficult to find bush materials to build houses. The best option is for every family to have permanent houses. He also wants a health centre built in the village.