People urged to dig deep amid drop in economy

THE people of South Bougainville have been told to brace themselves for difficult times as the country’s economic woes worsen.
Addressing Konnou and neighbouring constituencies at Muguai village on Thursday, South Bougainville MP Timothy Masiu told his people not to expect too much but return to their land and work hard on their cocoa blocks.
He urged the people to do away with the false notion that the MPs  had a lot of money, and described the district services improvement programme funds as a “drop in the ocean”.
“It won’t be easy because the country is in a dire economic situation,” Masiu said.
“To make things worse, the value of the kina has declined to very low levels.
“We are going through a vicious circles, the same people who brought the country to its knees are back in government and nothing will change.
“So I ask you not to expect too much.
“You must work hard on your cocoa and your land because your wealth is not in the member’s office.
“You must also be prepared to free up land for major impact project developments because the Government does not have land.
“If you want to work with me to transform South Bougainville, then you must be prepared and willing to sacrifice and free up your land too.”
Masiu was given a surprise by people who organised a ceremony to welcome him back to the electorate on arrival from official duties in Port Moresby, since his election victory.