Telefomin rises to tackle challenges

BY JEFFREY ELAPA
TELEFOMIN district is one of the least developed areas in the country with service delivery a major challenge facing the local authorities.
More than 50,000 inhabitants of this highlands district of the West Sepik province are trapped in difficult and isolated communities.
They include the mountain Ok people, a central group with numerous sub-groups including the Telefol, Urapmin, Wopkaimin and other smaller groups of the Min tribe.
Life expectancy here is far below the national average 65 of years due to isolation and non-accessibility via road links and better health and education facilities.
While the challenges are immense, the local MP Solan Mirisim and his district development authority have been working hard to address the disparities to help improve lives.
The district is taking the lead and setting the framework and platform for progress and development in this country despite the challenges.
Geographically, the Telefomin district shares borders with the Indonesian province of West Papua, the Western province, Vanimo-Green, district of West Sepik, Anbunti district in East Sepik, Porgera in Enga and Kopiago in Hela.
It is home to the Min tribe, famous for their penis gourds. It is located at an elevation of 1,166 meters above sea level and has a land mass of about 6,306 square miles.
The district is entirely disadvantaged with not road linking the four local level governments areas (Telefomin, Oksapmin, Hedwaki and Yapsie LLGs). Difficult mountain terrain and thick jungles that make building roads difficult.
Access to the areas is by air from Kiunga, Mt Hagen, Vanimo, Tari and Wewak, and also by dugout canoes powered by outboard motor engines along the Yellow, Frieda and Sepik Rivers.
The airfare from Telefomin to Kiunga or Tari to Oksapmin is more than K600 for a 25-minute flight while the freight cost is about K5 per kilo and a charter is about K7,000.
Doing business is terribly difficult but people have scarified and the cost of goods and services are tripled.
In a recent interview, Mirism said he was forced to enter politics after seeing the needs of his people.
He was first elected in 2012 and became the seventh Member of Parliament representing his people.
He said he would not see the problems as an excuse to allow the people to continue suffering but prioritise their needs to free them from the tyranny of isolation.
In August this year, his district administration launched a five-year development plan based on the needs of his people with greater focus on transportation and education.
The road map for the district was launched by former National Planning Minister Richard Maru several days before he was decommissioned.
While transport was his topmost priority, Mirisim sees education as a major policy changer for his people. Education, he says, is a driver for change with the idea that an educated and well-informed population can contribute meaningfully to progress and change in the communities by making informed decisions to live a good life.
So far he has funded all schools and most have permanent buildings.
Teacher training
Having seeing the teacher shortage in the district, he initiated a training programme with several of the teachers colleges to train grade 12 students from his district to go back to the district to teach.
So far 350 teachers have been trained and for the first time all teaching positions in the district are filled.
Besides that he has also supported students studying in other tertiary institutions throughout the country.
As a result of such interventions, Telefomin Secondary School topped the country in the national examination in 2018 and that was a proud achievement for the district .
Mirisim, who spent a week celebrating Independence with his people last month, said the only forms of transportation in and out of the district were air and rivers for those living in low land areas. A major achievement for the district was the purchase of a plane, the Pride of Telefomin.
The nine-seater aircraft owned by the DDA is now under maintenance and would be released soon to transport goods and people in and out of the district.
Mirisim also purchased outboard motors and distributed them to groups and families in the Yapsie, Telefomin and Namea (Hewaki) LLGs for river transportation. The engines will be used on big dugout canoes for travel along the rivers to reach Vanimo and Wewak.
He distributed 13 engines to the people of Frieda River, 28 to Hewaki LLG, and six to Yapsie LLG. Two others were given to the people of Tumonbil, a government post on the border of PNG and West Papua.
Earlier on he supplied eight boat engines to the people of Blackwara, a village next to Freda River. He also presented several engines to the people of Ambunti district to foster friendship with his people so they are not harassed or robbed as they travel to and from Wewak.
He will also present two more boats and engines to his people near North Fly district in Western.
Mirisim said he will also purchase a truck for his people to be stationed at Stone Pass in the Vanimo-Green district so the people can travel on their boats and then drive to Vanimo.
Cost-effective service
Meanwhile Mirisimsaid while the delivery of services in his district was difficult, he was looking at low cost, affordable and sustainable means of services for his people.
He said not much can be achieved through air transport so he decided to build a road to connect Telefomin to the towns of Tabubil and Kiunga.
Under the tax credit scheme through Ok Tedi mine, Mirism secured the first K45 million to construct 23km of road already.
The Government is also expected to release another K75 million to complete the remaining section to reach Telefomin within two years, which will be a timely “election present.”
Mirism has purchased six vehicles for different government divisions to use around Telefomin station.
His other priorities are health and communication. He is now building the Telefomin Hospital which is expected to be opened next month.
In the communication sector, the district has partnered Digicel PNG to erect several towers. It is also in the process of facilitating several Telikom-Bmobile towers as well.
The MP had also purchased two-way radios for remote communities. The district has EMTV and NBC TV receptions, a BSP banking centre and Etpos banking terminals in loca business outlets.
Besides other developments, the member has initiated a rural housing programme by supplying mobile sawmills to communities to build their own homes and also assist with schools and aid post buildings.
While other districts enjoying better connectivity lag behind in real development, Telefomin is leading the way and perhaps setting an example in what can be done with prudent use of District Service Improvement Programme funds.
It is a dream for Mirisim and his people to make Telefomin a model district despite the challenges.