Wewak market to open next month

WORK on the Wewak market and jetty project in East Sepik has been completed and is awaiting the opening by Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare next month.
Project coordinator Joachim Nianguma told The National yesterday that all works according to the project design had been completed except for additional features like a cool room at the market to store fresh meat and vegetables and a jetty adjourning the seawall which the workers were putting the finishing touches to.
He said the project was scheduled for opening last Tuesday to coincide with the country’s 35th independence celebrations in Wewak, however, it was delayed for another four weeks pending the completion of the metropolitan police station which is currently under construction.
The new double storey building, which is going up in front of the market, is the initiative of East Sepik police commander Supt Charles Parinjo who wanted the shift of the Wewak police station from its current location on Kreer Hill to the heart of town where people
could easily access their services.
The project office headed by Nianguma is preparing for the opening of the Wewak market, jetty, ice plant and the police station on Oct 14.
However, the project manager on site Reuben Porras said work on the police station would take a while because building materials were not readily available.
Nianguma said basically the project which was captured in the original design has been completed with the funding of K12.6 million from the Japanese government.
He said the police station and other additional features including the completed third market building were constructed using the PNG counterpart funding of more than K9 million.
Meanwhile, all informal sectors would be kept out of the new market in order to create space for vendors from the villages to sell more fresh vegetables, meat and fish.