Image source: Yokei986 Youtube Channel
Manam islanders living in the care-centres are yet to get an update on the K10million funding for their resettlement exercise.
The money was promised to fund the resettlement exercise for at least 15,000 Manam islanders in Madang.
The Care Centre’s Manager, Paul Maburau, told EMTV they have no knowledge of the status of the funding.
The K10 million was promised to fund the relocation of the Manam islanders living on the island and those in the three care centre of Potsdam, Asuramba and Mangem along the Bogia coastline.
The displaced were to be relocated to Andarum in the remote hinterlands of Bogia.
About 10 hectares of customary land has been made available by the traditional landowners.
But islanders say life on the mainland is very different from their way of life on the island.
At the care center they are forced to get water for cooking and washing from a dug out well.
For drinking water they have to walk quite a distance to get fresh water from the mountain.
An elder village chief told EMTV News, they no longer want to live on the mainland following various conflicts that erupted between them and the landowners.
Nathaniel Kurum said landowners had put a stop on them not to use their land to make gardens, or the sea for fishing.
The relocation is currently being managed and coordinated by the Madang Provincial Government and the administration.
This is done through the project management company, Ramu Development Foundation.
The provincial government is working on key areas in setting the pace to move the project forward.
1 comment