Scheme to benefit quake victims

WHEN the February 2018 earthquake hit the Highlands, hundreds of people were left homeless and others lost food gardens, livestock and properties worth thousands of kina.
People in Nipa-Kutubu were one of the many districts that suffered.
Their MP Jeffery Komal’s plan to build two to three permanent houses per family came to fruition on Friday.
During his visit to the affected areas when the disaster struck, he saw people living in makeshift homes in the LLGs; the biggest group in the Kutubu LLG.
Komal said he would announce a free housing scheme and provide people with resources to build permanent homes.
“Building permanent houses for families, providing school fee assistance for tertiary students and improving school infrastructures in the district will settle people to embrace peace, take part in church-oriented activities and do away with social issues,” Komal said.
He said many of the developments in the district were under the People’s National Congress party policy.’The party helped with three sawmills while the district development authority (DDA) purchased two.
Komal said the first phase would be rolled out in the Nipa Rural LLG.