Power for Markham

MARKHAM District deserves a fully integrated electricity supply service.
The supply of electricity is a big part of the government’s infrastructural plan, with the projection that at least 70 per cent of the population should be connected to a power supply by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2050.
Almost 90 per cent of the population is rural-based and are heavily reliant on subsistence earning activities and therefore need worthwhile projects in the SME or agricultural sector to survive.
In going in that direction, the government is not pushing for down-streaming processing as a way of spreading economic benefits.
PNG Power has come up with a rural electrification project to connect all rural areas. But because of financial constraints, the government power utility has delegated this responsibility to the national government, the locally elected national members and donors to fund the projects.
A good number of local MPs have taken on the challenge.
So in this regard, I am now calling on Markham MP Koni Iguan to wake up and look into such a worthy cause and try as much as he can to connect the district to a reliable and fully integrated electricity service, especially for Onga/Wafa and Lerron/Wantoat LLG.
Markham needs to be connected, whether through the Ramu grid through Lae Centre, or through the development of a mini hydro system, especially in the case of Leron/Wantoat LLG and Onga/Wafa LLG.
Economically, the district is one of the significant contributing factors to the cocoa, coffee, and oil palm (soon to be) industry in Morobe and PNG, as well as peanut and other cash crops that ideally provide healthy income for the local people.
Markham will be a major agricultural hub contributing vastly into the coffers of the provincial and national government and agriculture is known to be a nation’s backbone which is a long-term beneficial to our people. There are also schools, health centers, the government offices, NGO’s, churches and small scale SME operating along the region with the need of electricity supply to increase their effectiveness and efficiency in daily operational activities.
The electricity as well as other infrastructural development projects continues to remain undelivered and hinders prosperity in the district despite the consecutive successors into the mandated public office over the years.
Therefore, delivering fully integrated electricity services all across the district today will improve their production capabilities viable to enhance and widen their income capacity to actively participate in nation’s economic growth, while improve service delivery to the local people over the years to come.
The local MP should now making some tangible changes in line with the MTDP, national government strategy 2030 and vision 2050 leaving a at least some outstanding legacy for the people of Markham district. Frankly, benefit of such project surely outweighs the costs factors in such economical district like Markham and must be fully taken into consideration.
Hence, some funds through annual K10 million DSIP budget has to be allocated purposely to implement this kind of project as it is also worth earning 10% real financial rate of return to the state power utility and can of course, be delivered.

Maran Kess Mamatsirah
Mangi Yuweng