Promising start for MP Kewanu

Source: The National, Tuesday July 16th, 2013

ON behalf of the less fortunate people of Lai Valley in Mendi, I wish to thank MP De Kewanu for setting up much-needed projects in Munhiu sub-district.
The projects are the Munhiu-Kip feeder road (K700,000), Munhiu district office maintenance (K200,000), generator sets for Munhiu health centre as well as uniforms and allowances for village court officers in Lai Valley LLG.
This is the first time an MP for Mendi has recognised Munhiu sub-district office as the headquarters of the highly-populated Lai Valley LLG.
Although the projects are small, it is a good start.
We hope the MP and the Southern Highlands governor will recognise the need and come up with more support in the near future to revive the failing sub-district so that services will flow to the rest of Lai Valley LLG again.
I also take this opportunity to thank the Lai Valley people and leaders who hosted the Mendi MP in Munhiu recently.

Alvin Gia
Mendi

Kanekane passes away

Source: The National, Wednesday July 17th, 2013

By MALUM NALU
RESPECTED senior public servant and Papua New Guinea Media Council president Joe Kanekane has died. He was 44.
Kanekane, from the Kowengil village in Ialibu, Southern Highlands, was director of the PNG Law and Justice Sector Secretariat (LJSS) at the time of his death from a suspected heart attack at Tabubil Hospital in Western on Sunday while he was on vacation.
His body was flown to Port Moresby from Tabubil yesterday with funeral arrangements being made.
News of his death has shocked the law and order sector, as well as the media industry, as Kanekane was a well-known journalist and writer before he joined the LJSS.
Kanekane held an MBA, a degree in arts with honours from the University of PNG and a post-graduate diploma from the University of Wales.
He was president of the PNG Media Council, chairman of the Individual and Community Rights Advocacy Forum (ICRAF) board, a member of the National Scouts Association Board and was the chairman of the PNG Censorship board.
He was also on the Caritas PNG board, was co-chairman of the Community Coalition against Corruption and was an accomplished poet and writer.
His mother Cecilia told The National at his haus krai at Rainbow Village in Gerehu yesterday that Kanekane was born in Maprik, East Sepik, on Sept 9, 1968.
Kanekane went on to the Madang Teachers’ College where he trained for two years and in Western Highlands before taking up studies at UPNG.
“He said he loved writing and wanted to become a journalist,” his mother recalled.
He did, with a successful career at Word Publishing before joining LJSS.

Mendi leaders get late allowance

Source: The National, Wednesday July 10th, 2013

By JAMES APA GUMUNO
VILLAGE court officials and land mediators in Mendi, Southern Highlands, have been presented with new uniforms, a Toyota Landcruiser and were paid six months outstanding allowances.
Local MP De Kewanu delivered the items and paid their allowances at the Muniun station last week in front of officials, villagers, invited guests and family members.
Kewanu said court officials played a vital role in maintaining law and order in communities but had been overlooked for a long time.
He said they worked hard to maintain peace in their communities and deserved better treatment from the government.
“Even though they were not properly looked after, court officials had continued to play vital roles in ensuring peace.
“I will continue to support law and order officials in the electorate to carry on with their good work when serving the people.”
Kewanu also presented a new 10-seater vehicle to the chairman of the peace and good order committee, Yaungtain Koroba, to ease the committee’s transport issues.
Disrtict affairs officer Masa Apon said his people had been ignored for a long time and he thanked the MP and his committee for looking into the needs of law enforcement agencies in his electorate.
Meanwhile, Kewanu also announced a K700,000 road upgrading project from Kundap turn-off to Kip in the Lai local level government.

SHP locals to get roads

Source:The National, Wednesday 5th June 2013

PEOPLE in Upper Mendi, Lower Lai and Karinzare are celebrating the construction of new roads to their districts.
More than 40,000 people in Upper Mendi, Southern Highlands, watched with joy last week when an excavator and other machines moved in to start the work.
An excavator bought recently by the Mendi-Munhiu district moved into Ekari village to develop a new limestone quarry to fix feeder roads in the district.
Community leader Luke Liwa told The National the people were excited when they saw the machines arrive.
“We have suffered because of bad road condition because our past MPs forgot the 40,000 people living in Upper Mendi and didn’t bother to fix our road,” Liwa said.
He said the new quarry would help fix the Mendi-Tambul section of the road and other feeder roads in Lower Lai and Karinz.
He said the Polomada quarry near Mendi town was about 15km away and it was expensive to pay a dump truck bring two to three trips every day.
The new quarry at Ekari village should allow up to five trips an hour.
Tomba Puyu, a village chief from Mogol, said he was over 70 years old and it was the first time he had seen such a machine.
He said he, his tribesmen and others built the Mendi-Tambul road with their bare hands

Thousands witness huge compensation

Source: The National, Tuesday July 9th, 2013

By Peter Esop Wari
THOUSANDS of people from the Mendi-Munihu district turned up at Kap-Mulum village to witness a compensation payment yesterday.
A total of 160 pigs, a cassowary and K143,000 in cash was given to relatives of a woman who was accidently killed in May after an argument with another woman, both married to a man from the area.
Peace and good order committees from the area stood firm and arranged the compensation payment to which the husband and his relatives agreed.
Community leader Petrick Tombo said all they wanted was peace after experiencing several tribal fights in the area.
“The problem was with the two women who fought after some little argument and that would have affected the community but mutual understanding between the two parties has resulted positively where the deceased’s family agreed and accepted the amount,” Tombo said.
Relatives of the deceased marched to the arena and received the compensation payment from the Kondup-Konzop tribe.
Leaders who witnessed the compensation praised the Kondup-Konzop tribe for working tirelessly to maintain peace.

K10.5mil budget passed

Source:The National,Wednesday 17th April, 2013

By PETER ESOP WARI

MENDI-Munihu district in the Southern Highlands has approved a K10.5 million budget for the year with infrastructure getting the biggest slice.
Mendi-Munihu MP De Kewano presented K10 million in district support improvement programme fund plus a K500,000 funding for the national government to the joint district planning and budget priorities.
Kewano said the province and district must first have better roads and bridges before other services could be delivered.
He said the budget was focused on priority areas but adjustments had been made to give priority to roads and bridges.
The National Planning and Implementation Minister Charles Abel has approved it.
Before the adjustments were made, roads and bridges supposed to receive 30% only. But 15% was added giving it the biggest allocation.
“In the past 15 to 20 years, successive MPs have failed to give priority to road and bridges which is the most important infrastructural
service,” he said.
“And I will make sure it is of number one priority.”
Roads and bridges received K4.5 million, education K1.3 million, health K1.2 million, with economic and agricultural service plus law and justice getting K1 million each.
The remaining K1.5 million will go to other infrastructure and the district administration.
Kewano said the K4.5 million for roads and bridges would be used to purchase excavators and graders. They would be managed by the Mendi-Munihu district
administration.
He said the existing feeder roads in the district werebuilt with manual labour and machinery was needed to push road development.
He said a good road network would enable subsistence farmers to work hard and access the main markets to sell their garden produce.
It will also allow sick people to reach hospitals and transport equipment to schools and health centres.
He said the national government would handle the two big major road projects in the district - Mendi-Kandep and Mendi-Tambul roads.