RED CLAY, VIRGIN JUNGLES AND OUTBACK PAPUA NEW GUINEA

 

Red clay marks the new route 700 on the CONNECT PNG Trans island highway project.

A new beginning for Komo-Hulia electorate

The new Komo-Hulia electorate in Hela province is seeing some massive infrastructure developments like never before.

Thanks to the Komo-Hulia District Development Authority (DDA) under the vibrant leadership of local MP Daniel Tindipu.

While Tindipu is a man of few words and prefers silent achievements without much fanfare or publicity, some of the developments in the district are worth sharing as it reflects the efforts of this first-term MP.

Even prior to taking office, Tindipu is known within the district and Hela for assisting communities in terms of maintaining basic services such as roads and donating to schools and health centers.

Now, being mandated as MP and backed by a team of young, energetic and likeminded officers within the DDA, Tindipu took on some of the impact projects that will surely benefit the 70,000 plus population of the Komo-Hulia district with 46,000 eligible voters.

Today, seven months after his declaration in the 2022 national elections, 3 major impact projects are being implemented along with many renovations and reviving of rundown infrastructures in the district.

New Komo Hulia MP Daniel Tindipu  making a speech at the road link opening.

The three impact projects are road projects that will open up economic activities within the district and Hela as a whole.

The first is the Hulia Beneria to Ambua Lope road project which is jointly funded by Hela provincial government, the Hulia-Komo road and the Komo to Mt Sisa road project.

According to Tindipu, these are key road projects which will connect all LLGs in the District and his DDA will ensure they are completed within a reasonable time frame.

He said the projects are in line with the government’s ‘Connect PNG’ policy under the leadership of Prime Minister James Marape and the Pangu led government.

“The Homa to Tari road is about 35 kilometer and is an important road link which is part of the highlands highway connecting Kutubu in the Southern Highlands province. It’s a missing link and was previously implemented under the tax credit scheme but came to a standstill since 2010.

“So I had to request Prime Minister James Marape and Works Minister Solan Mirisim during the last Parliament sitting to allocate some funds to implement this important road link,” Tindipu said.

Red clay is four wheel drive country.

He said the Hulia to Komo road project is also important because it is within the PNG LNG project area.

“This road project will link Hulia and Komo LLGs and will be beneficial to the people as well as the investors. The road link will enable major investors such as Santos and Exxon Mobil to conveniently inspect project areas situated within the two LLGs,” Tindipu added.

He said currently, the 7 kilometer Beneria to Tagali road project is being implemented with 4 kilometers already cleared.

“The road was previously initiated by Francis Potape, when he was Komo-Magarima MP then, but the project came to a standstill so I had to carry on from there. We open up much of the corridors and we have only 3 kilometers to complete and the road will be open for use,” Tindipu said.

He added that once the road reaches the proposed Tagali Bridge site, it would be complete since there is existing road on the other side of the bridge. He said the project has reached halfway and would complete in due cause once the remaining 3 kilometers is complete.

“The existing road is quite narrow so we will also work on it to widen the road. We expect to open up the road within one-year time frame. The delay we expect will be the Tagali Bridge given the length of the big Tagali river and the kind of bridge it would cater,” Tindipu said.

Route 700, Las Papua.

He said it will cost more than K20 million to build the bridge to link up the roads.

“We have another road project linking Tamite to Beneria all the way to Ambua. Hela Governor Philip Undialu funded and progressed that road and I had the opportunity to partner with Governor Undialu in the implementation of that road. In fact, we are working in partnership to implement most of the impact projects in the district,” Tindipu said.

Other areas such as health, Tindipu said he is focusing on renovating and restoring rundown health centers and aid post in the district.

“I have already allocated some funds to certain recognized health centers such as Tikipi health centre, Aluakambe, Hokombe and other rundown health centers in the district,” Tindipu said.

He said he could not mention most of the proposed projects and plans are captured in the district’s development plan and are budgeted and would be implemented in the next three to four years.

The plan covers infrastructure, health, education, law and order, women, youth and churches.

The official opening of the Benaria link.

Tindipu said he is adamant that he would achieve most of his plans because he is backed by a vibrant DDA team and is working closely with community representatives to ensure the development plans for the district are achieved in a timely manner and within budget.

Tindipu is visiting his district constantly to meet with his DDA and inspect current projects to ensure the projects are implemented accordingly.

What’s more peculiar about the guy is that he does not like the idea of ground breaking ceremonies and launching of projects before the actual implementation of projects.

For him, he goes ahead and implements projects first and gets them launched along the way while the projects progresses to some stage. The same can be said for Wabag MP Dr Tom Lino, who carried out a lot of projects in some of the remotest parts of Wabag district during his first term in parliament.

This shows the new tread of leadership emerging from young and visionary leaders in the country who are willing to lead the nation forward despite a lot of challenges the country is facing.