Rural Papua New Guineans are still crying for basic infrastructure like roads and bridges.
A majority of the rural populace are forced to walk for hours or even days just to reach the nearest PMV stop.
Intending candidates travel along bad roads and challenging topography to conduct their campaigns. However, after they are elected into Parliament, most of them forget the people who need them the most.
This situation was evident at Nawaeb district in Morobe Province as media personnel and participants of the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Lae Circuit made their way to Bambok village for the second Youths, Geyamsao and Sunday School conference.
The back-breaking hilly terrain discourages many vehicles, especially PMVs, from servicing the Nabak LLG.
This means that locals with heavy bags of produce have to walk for hours just to find a PMV to transport their goods to the market, or even walk with the sick and elderly to access health services.
Lae Circuit Hetmeri, Geam Danny, said whilst visiting parishes, she has noted that bad roads and transportation are long-neglected issues.
“Gavman i nogat luksave lo rot blo kar lo siftim kago blo ol meri i go long maket,” she said. “Wanpla mama i ken baim K50 lo trenspot plas wanpla bilum kaikai, em ken baim wanpla bilum kaikai lo K20. Sapos tupla nau, em K60. Em displa hevi nau em stap lo maunten parish blo mi.”
Bambok community leader, Benson Gesingtu, said they have lost many mothers and their babies along the way due to the bad road condition.
“So planti taim mipla sa painim kar. Mipla save ringim ol HEO (health extension officers) lo distrik lo Boana. Taim ol no rispond na salim helikopta o kain olsem, em mipla save wokim ol bet na putim ol na karim ol go,” he stated.
“Sampla taim ol save go seif na sampla taim olsem ol sa go na meri diliveri lo rot, sampla taim tu meri sa lusim laif wantem pikinini. Ating 11pla taim kain samting i kamap olsem.”
Apart from roads, Bambok needs a health centre as well as access to telecommunication services.
