Poor services

BALIMO is considered the headquarters of Middle Fly in Western.
This is where most nearby villages look for basic services like hospitals, banks, law-and-order, schools, etc.
Balimo still suffers from rundown services.
The airstrip was closed down recently for sealing and has been sitting idle since then.
Travel to other centres is very difficult.
The only means to travel by air is by Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) through Kawaito to Daru or Hagen, and Tropicair to Port Moresby.
MAF flight schedules are always awkward.
Tropicair one-way fare costs are too high for most people to afford.
Parents sending kids off to school and families travelling now go by sea to Daru and fly off from there.
It’ss the cheapest but a hard, dangerous and costly option.
Roads in Balimo are full of potholes.
There was talk of road upgrades but everything’s gone quiet.
The funny thing is that local MP Roy Biyama travels to and from Balimo but is oblivious to all its problems.

GK