Look after airport: MP

By REBECCA KUKU- The National

Civil Aviation Minister Alfred Manasseh has called on the people of Hela to take ownership of the Tari Wigman Airport and look after it.
He made the call during the ground breaking ceremony for the construction work to the K70 million Tari Airport (Wigman) on Friday.
Manasseh said it would be named the Tari Wigman Airport.
He said for too long the people of Hela have been travelling to Mt Hagen to access airport services.
“Sometimes it takes more than eight hours to get to Mt Hagen, we go on unsealed roads facing the risks of been in a car accident or been held up by highway robbers,” he said.
“We will have our own airport and we must be thankful and appreciate and look after it.”
Manase said since becoming a province, they have been through a lot of tribal fighting, a lot of law and order issues and the recent earthquake that took many lives and destroyed infrastructure and homes.
“But today, we have all united to stand together and witness the ground breaking ceremony for the start of the construction of the Tari Airport,” he said.
Governor Philip Undialu said the airport construction was one of the many developments for Hela.
The airport when completed would serve people from the province and parts of Enga and Southern Highlands.
The K70 million project is counter funded by the National Government and the Asian Development Bank.