The Prime Minister, two politicians and senior officials travelled to Western Province to visit the progress of impacts projects.
Accompanying the Prime Minister were Minister for Livestock and Member for South Fly Hon. Saki Agisa, Minister for Works and Highways and Member for Telefomin, Hon. Solan Mirisim and senior officials from the Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council and the Department of National Planning, who were specifically there to do a site inspection of major impact projects, the government has identified for implementation in Western Province.
Prime Minister James Marape during his visit handed over a K17 million cheque for the development of several projects in the province.
Prime Minister Marape further clarified the cheque breakup for various projects:
K7 million for the upgrading and sealing of the road works in Daru, the provincial capital of Western Province.
K5 million will go towards the start of punching in a new road from Oriomo to Weam.
Another five million kina will go towards improving the Daru General Hospital, therefore he asked the AUSAID team based in Daru, who are coordinating the work being done at the hospital, to discuss with the provincial government on areas that they can contribute towards improving so that both the government of Australia and Papua New Guinea can work together for the good of the people.
On that note, the Prime Minister also presented another cheque of K5 million to the Governor of Western Province, for other impact projects that he would like to implement for the province.
Prime Minister Marape said the Government is working to open access to the Indonesian market for beef, agricultural products, fisheries products and even tourism by building a road link that will go from Daru to Oriomo, then to Wiem and then onto Kiunga and connecting Kiunga to Telefomin.
In supporting the Prime Minister’s commitments to connect PNG in the next 20 years, Minister for Works and Highways Solan Mirisim told the people of Western Province that the Trans-Fly missing links are part of the Government’s flagship program called the ‘Connect PNG Program’, which will see 5.6 percent of the country’s annual budget go towards upgrading the existing roads and building new ones to connect the whole country to the main road that will go from Wutung all the way to Alotau in the Milne Bay Province.
He also appealed to public servants to keep working if they are called upon during the holidays because there is more work to be done for our people and country to take us where we want to be in the next twenty years and that is everyone becoming financially independent and having access to quality services.
The Prime Minister said our country needs to be connected in as far as development is concerned and that no province must be left behind in that area.
“Western Province has a huge agricultural and livestock and tourism potential that has not been tapped into for many years,” he said.
“We have been hypnotized by the thought that mining and petroleum will have an abundance of money to make us all rich yet we remain poor and live in poverty in our own land we have become lazy and unproductive and not doing anything in our land of abundance,” he added.
The Prime Minister told the people of Western Province that there are many ways to make money and not only from oil, gold and gas. There is tourism, fisheries, agriculture and livestock.
He said going into business in these areas also have the potential for people to earn a living to improve living standards but that will only come about if people work and not just sit around waiting for free handouts.
