MP presents K2 million to fix war-time road for rural people

THE people of Yega tribe in the Oro Bay local level government and nearby communities will now have good road access into Popondetta, thanks to the allocation of K2 million for the project.
Ijivitari MP Richard Masere presented the cheque to the district development authority acting chief executive officer Moses Iopare last week.
Masere said the funding would be used for the rehabilitation of the Kikiri Road.
Kikiri is one of the roads that connects the coastline villages to Popondetta and was used by commuters travelling from Lae and other provinces.
“The road was built during WWII and was accessed by the Australian, American and Japanese soldiers,” Masere said.
It was along that Gona coast that the battle of WWII was fought and it remains an important historical site, he said.
However, due to lack of maintenance, the road has been closed for over a year.
Now that funding has been made available, it would be reopened, Masere said.
Meanwhile, in Kausada village, work is progressing on the refurbishment of the aid post and officer in-charge’s (OIC) house.
Masere said it was the second of the 18 health centres and aid posts to be refurbished in the districts.
Work is expected to be completed on the aid posts and OIC’s house by mid-next month.
Masere said the DDA was supporting local small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and George Baure, of Steambeam Ltd, received funding for the vessel.
He said the financial support would help with the completion of the vessel for coastline communities from Kewansasap to Iwaiye.
“This will include supporting our domestic cocoa and vanilla farmers living along the coastline,” he said.
“The district’s effort is aimed at strengthening our local SMEs.”
Masere said another local contractor in Popondetta was engaged to install 10 pre-fabricated bus-stops in Popondetta for Ijivitari commuters.
He said the installation work on the bus-stops would be completed by March.