Three of the five rural airstrips in Pomio district, East New Britain Province, are currently being upgraded by the Rural Airstrips Agency (RAA).
Member for Pomio, Elias Kapavore, confirmed that the seven-man team from RAA is already at Palmalmal and will initially attend to the Jacquinot Bay airstrip in the West Pomio-Mamusi LLG.
Jacquinot Bay airstrip is the only one in operation out of a total of seven airstrips in the district. Four of the airstrips will also be rejuvenated under this RAA-ENB provincial government program.
As per a signed tripartite Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) last year (2020), five airstrips will undergo upgrading under counterpart funding from the Pomio District Development Authority (DDA) worth K450,000 and the ENBPG totaling K186,000.
The Pomio MP said work was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kapavore explained that the decision to engage the RAA was due to the fact that all the airstrips were left to deteriorate for almost 30 years.
He said he is grateful of the support from the ENBPG and its administration for the upgrading program that will cover Gonaile and Lele in the Central Inland Pomio LLG, Uvol in the Melkoi LLG and Bili, apart from Jacquinot Bay in the West Pomio-Mamusi LLG.
It is projected that after the month of October, test flights would be conducted on the upgraded airstrips.
The Pomio MP further expressed his gratitude to the management of the RAA and the RAMS Shipping Services for the swift delivery of RAA equipment from Lae to Palmalmal.
He said the airstrips now come under the responsibility of the RAA, and during the course of the maintenance work, the RAA team will also conduct training and certification of two selected locals per site.
These trained individuals will be responsible for carrying out regular maintenance work on the airstrips in consultation with the RAA.
Meanwhile, the Pomio MP assured that the DDA has sent out invitations to other third level airline operators, apart from Tropicair, which is currently the only service provider to the Jacquinot Bay airstrip.
He outlined that they have received interests from other companies, which should enable – in the long run – a reduction in the airfares.
Currently, Tropicair is offering a rate of K750 per passenger.