Hela community with no access to road pay K620 for return flight to Tari

By PETER WARI - The National

IT costs K620 for a return flight toTari for people living in the Wanikipe community of Koroba-Kopiago of Hela.
Hela health authority emergency operation centre coordinator Rocky Wakinda told The National that there was no road link and people were isolated by swift rivers.
He said people living in Aluni, Ambi, Dodomona, Yokona, Wisky, Maliali, Kopiago, Paga and Trailiva villages travelled to Wanikipe station by raft.
“These people are peace-loving people, they look after health workers sent for vaccination programmes in the past and today for the measles, rubella and polio vaccination programme, they will take the responsibility and support,” Wakinda said.
“Parents dressed in ragged clothes, many children naked – they do their best to support health routine vaccination and that has broken the hearts of health workers who travel there for the vaccination programme.”
Wakinda said the initiative by provincial health authority chief executive Dr James Kintwa for a clothes donation drive would be appreciated by the people.
“It is K310 to travel to Tari town and K310 to return. So they make sure they have about K1,000 to do their shopping and airfares. So people travel to Tari town once or twice in a year,” he said.
Wakinda said people living near Tari town and those living in other districts and have road access were lucky.
They have heaps of clothes, some that are not used should be donated.
He said the donation drive was launched last Tuesday and Kintwa had appealed to people of Hela to donate clothes that they saw as not useful to the, for the Wanikipe community.
Kintwa said not all people living near Tari town and those in other districts were rich in clothes but they were blessed to have easy access to town and had something to wear.
“But for these people, clothes can last them many years while many new born babies and children are naked,” he said.
“We have to help those people by donating clothes to them. They are our fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters living in places where there are no government services and we have to help them.”

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