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.