Tiensten wants road to link electorate

 POMIO MP Paul Tiensten (pictured), has welcomed the appointment of Hereman Yareng as deputy governor of East New Britain.

He called for equal development balance in the province.

Yareng, the East Pomio local level government president, was elected unanimously as deputy governor at the provincial assembly this week.

Tiensten and Yareng had been fighting for some time to have a road connect Pomio to Kokopo district.

This was because of the many lives lost at sea when people had to use boats to travel because there was no road, Tiensten said.

Four public servants from the provincial administration lost their lives at sea while travelling between Pomio and Kokopo in January.

Tiensten said the road between Pomio and Kokopo should be a priority.

“Let us not kid ourselves. It is important that Pomio and parts of south coast be linked to Kokopo because that is where the raw materials such as oil palm are,” he said.

“They contribute to the economy of the province and country.

“While we concentrate on building the New Britain Highway, important in the economic growth of ENB and West New Britain is to develop the south coast corridor.

“We should be looking at the downstream processing and manufacturing because the raw material are in Pomio and Qaqet areas. And we need roads to take them to Kokopo.”

He urged Yareng to work closely with Governor Ereman ToBaining Jnr and political leaders to ensure no one was left out in the development of the province.

The 7.4 km missing link lies in the Illi-Wawas integrated agroforestry project operated by Tzen Niugini under a road line timber agreement.