Silupa: Stop unnecessary compensation demands

UNNECESSARY land compensation demand has been a major impediment for efficient flow of basic services into rural areas.
This was highlighted at a gathering at Kefre village near Lufa Secondary School in Lufa district, Eastern Highlands, by Lufa MP and Vice-Minister for Health and HIV/AIDS Yawa Silupa on Monday.
“Basic services will only flow into rural communities if the land is freed up and roads and bridges are built through, the land will always remain but if good initiatives like road constructions are stopped by unnecessary land compensation demands and services taken elsewhere, the people will remain cut off and will suffer,” Silupa said.
He told more than 2,000 people, who had gathered to show him and his delegation an initiative to manually construct a 4km road from Kefre village to Rongo-Tanaro road junction that leads to Lufa station.
Silupa emphasised to the people not to claim compensation for destruction done to their food gardens, planted improvements and other developments because they would stop services like roads, bridges, electricity, health and education from coming into their area.
“In appreciation of your efforts, I will secure funding for your sweat and also plant equipment to expand your efforts,” he said.
He also called on local leaders of village elders and ward councillors to work alongside him to serve the people saying they initiated the road construction without informing him and he would help them in any way possible.
The road will serve around 4,000 people of the area with students attending Lufa Secondary School as it is much closer that the old Forapi-Lufa High School road.
Spokesman for the people Koda Daniel told Silupa, the second term parliamentarian from the ruling NA party, that they were ready to receive and accept services saying their initiative to construct the road with spades signified that.
He thanked the MP and his delegation for visiting their road construction site that took them three months to complete 3km.
Team leader Rex Bapu, who took the MP on a brief tour of the road, reiterated that the people after years of being left out on basic services, would not claim any compensation for destruction when the road, bridges, electricity and other services were forthcoming.