A new, fully-equipped K5.1 million Umba Community Health Post was opened on Tuesday, the 30th of January, in Menyamya district.
Umba women openly wept when representatives from the Morobe Provincial Health Authority and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade handed over the K5.1 million facility.
Menyamya has always been referred to as the “back page” of Morobe; it would take over 8 hours to reach the district due to the deteriorated state of the road from Bulolo and the eroded, landslip-prone mountains of Watut and Menyamya.
In emergencies when medical attention is needed immediately, pregnant mothers in Menyamya lose their lives and their babies because there is no ambulance to take them to the nearest health facility; which could be at Menyamya Station or Aseki.
The new facility, located at Ward Three of the Kome Rural LLG, is a result of a partnership between the Morobe Provincial Health Authority, the Asian Development Bank and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Project manager, Rob Akers, described it as the “most remote and difficult project” that the ADB has ever delivered in PNG.
The project commenced in 2014, stalled, and was eventually delivered in 2024.
“The health services sector development project has delivered quite a number of health facilities in Morobe Province,” said Akers.
“We started with the community health post at Mumeng, at Watut, at Yamaya (Menyamya), at Garasa (Bulolo) and now this one.
“We have managed to complete two urban clinics in Lae; at West Taraka and Tent City, we’ve provided work at the Markham district hospital in Mutzing and at the Bulolo district hospital. So the project has had an impact in Morobe Province and as the Chairman of the MoPHA board said, the aim of those projects is to assist ANGAU to manage the workload of the Morobe Province.
“Morobe Province is the biggest province in the country by a very long way. You have 10 districts, you have more than a million people. And that is a very big job for the provincial health authority – for Dr Kipas Binga and his team – and I wish them all well in delivering services to such a disperse and isolated community.”
The momentous Umba occasion was attended by the Minister for Health, Dr. Lino Tom, Menyamya MP, Solen Loifa, and for the first time, the female board members of the Morobe Provincial Health Authority.