Menyamya district

Member for Menyamya, Solen Loifa, encouraged his electorate, in Morobe Province, to welcome the growth of their district.

The lack of proper roads and basic services has always been a challenge for the remote Menyamya district.

Under the leadership of their young visionary leader, the rugged face of the electorate is slowly changing.

Speaking at the opening of their state-of-the-art Umba Community Health Post on Tuesday, Loifa encouraged the people of Kome Rural LLG to allow development to take place.

The health counsellor of the Australian High Commission, Dr. Lara Andrews, outlined this during the opening of the long-awaited K5.1 million Umba Community Health Post on Tuesday, the 30^th of January.

Normally, it takes the people of Umba two days to walk to the Menyamya Health Centre to access medical help. Most times, they lose their loved ones along the way and have to turn back home.

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.

Frustrations have mounted after a delegation from the Health Department visited the health facility in Menyamya last week and advised that it will be closed as the work environment is not conducive, the infrastructure and staff houses are falling apart, the meagre supply of medical tools are rusty or worn out, and there is no electricity or proper running water.

Community health worker, Pauline Gaigami, lamented that from the annual K10 million district services improvement program funds, K2 million was supposed to be for the health sector.

Farmers are forced to carry bags of coffee and walk for days to reach the nearest road and with coffee being a perishable product, the beans rot within a few days, resulting in wasted effort and time.

Local MP, Solen Loifa, urged the provincial government to hear their plea and build roads and bridges to connect Menyamya to Lae.

“Kofi blo mipla stil sting yet lo maunten na bus stap,” said Loifa. (Our coffee is rotting on the mountain and in bushes.)

Founder and chairman of Hamtai Coffee Group, Den Anas, said Menyamya has been producing coffee since 1950 with no district, provincial or national government support.

However, instead of sitting back and begging for support, they have moved another step forward by insuring their prized commodity.

Anas described his vision of coffee production in Menyamya as a “100 dream”.

“Mi mangi ples, mi stap lo bik bus tasol mi kisim 100 driman,” he said. “Mi no go lo skul, mi no pinisim UPNG, mi stap lo bik bus na mi kisim wanpla 100 driman blo mi.

Officer-in-charge of the Aseki Health Centre, Sister Mathilda Maborai, said their village health volunteers work long hours alone, without pay and without proper equipment and supplies.

The village health volunteers of Menyamya district work in one of the most remote and marginalised areas of Morobe Province.

Sr Maborai said the 12 VHVs of Poiyu village, in the Nanima-Kariba Rural LLG, were trained 15 years ago, and under only one of three modules, which is safe motherhood.

Furthermore, its village court officials hope to be recognised and included in the system.

Since their swearing in ceremony in 2010, the village court magistrate of Aseki Station in the Nanima-Kariba Rural LLG, Pupus Yawa, said they have no facility to operate from and there is no police officer to assist in law and order.

“So far mi gat tenpla ofisas; faivpla pis ofisas na faivpla mejistreit na wanpla klak,” he stated. (So far I have 10 officers; five peace officers and five magistrates and one clerk.)