Port Moresby's street mechanics are the deals

 I met Dean in front of Pacific Engineering at Waigani in 2014 and uses him to work on my car for any faults ever since.

After every three months I give him a call to service my car.

The tasks would include changing gear oil, brake pads, engine oil, spark plugs, air cleaner and fuel filter.

This usually costs me around K100 to pay him. That's out of my choice actually.

Dean is from Simbu and Morobe and is a qualified mechanic who worked with several companies and his last was with a security company.

He told me he was at Pacific Engineering once to buy car parts for his employer when someone had a car problem right there and Dean helped him.

This guy paid him K100.

Being formally employed, Dean earns about K350 a fortnight, he said.

At that moment when he saw a K100 in just less than an hour-he concluded freelancing was his best option to earn many times more than being formally employed.

In a fortnight freelancing, he makes more than K1000.

He has his tools and hangs around with many other freelance mechanics at the Pacific Engineering area.

He is a qualified mechanic who can strip the car and engine and put them all back.

He change change tyres, work on brakes and many other things for cars.

He could do electrical work.

I highly recommend Dean and I suppose his services of top standard are well cheaper then bringing a vehicle to a workshop that would cost you arms and legs.

But there is one thing that concerns me about the service provided by Dean and his co-freelancers.

They turn the streets into a dull workshop with dirty oil spilled everywhere, kind of.

I suggest the metro government in Port Moresby buy and fence an area where these freelance mechanics can hang around and people bring their vehicles over.

At the end of the day, these people get paid to survive and car owners can afford their rates.

The metro government can only charge them minimal fees to keep the designated area clean, particularly for environment concerns dealing with oil.

Gulf Province set for transformation as government announces key infrastructure projects

 Good news for the people of Kerema and Gulf Province.

The government led by Prime Minister James Marape is serious about turning the province into a hub of business, trade and host of major oil and gas projects.

Marape spent two the weekend in Gulf Province launching the Ihu Special Economic Zone project (ISEZ) at Ihu and spent a day in Kerema where he announced several important infrastructure projects.

The ISEZ is a K100 million project that is aimed at creating thousands of jobs and generating billions of monies to the government coffers.

The National Executive Council has approved monies for this project to be managed by a private company.

Project director Peter KenGemar has been promoting this project internationally-they are hoping that reduced taxes and other business incentives will lure potential investors who will transform Ihu and Gulf a lot.

After about 20 years the Ihu airstrip was also launched during James Marape's visit and Transport Minister William Samb who is the Goilala MP was also there.

In Kerema, Marape urged the people who are in Port Moresby or anywhere else to return to Kerema.

He said the government was allocating K100 million for the upgrade and resealing of the Hiritano Highway.

From this K100 million, K70 million will be loaned from the World Bank and K30 million would be from the government.

Marape said Gulf hosts some mega project in oil and gas like the Papua LNG, Pasca offshore gas and now the proposed ISEZ project.

The road would certainly help develop these projects and he has urged the people to return and venture into fishery, farming and get into SME businesses.

He said the Kerema rugby league field now turned into a market for betel nut vendors would be developed with a K100,000 from the National Gaming Control Board (NGCB).

Marape said a K20,000 would go to support the basketball competition.

The bare roads in Kerema town would be sealed with a K 5 million funding.

 

Prime Minister Marape told hundreds of people who gathered in Kerema that the Hiritano Highway was a major road that connected Gulf and Central with NCD.

 

“The National Government will support many of the upcoming resource projects like Papua LNG and Pasca, and others like the Ihu Special Economic Zone in the Gulf province,” he said.

 

 

 “By this time next year, the contractors will be working on upgrading and reconstructing work on upgrading the last stretch of the highway that has deteriorated and not sealed into Kerema,’’ he said.

“You are lucky people as some of you live along the corridors of the major Hiritano Highway linking Kerema to Malalaua, and into the vast Central Province,” Marape said.

 

“Both provinces have valuable resources like land and fisheries and marine resources.

 

“I appeal to you people to allow any road programmes and projects to flow through, as when there is a road, money will flow and other services will trickle down to the people.

 

“We appeal to you (Gulf people living in other provinces) to return home as the National Government will work and partner with your provincial government to create opportunities for you when the Hiritano Highway and Kerema Town roads are fixed.”

 

 Gulf Province is set to be transformed.

 

The 'stress drive up' drive in Port Moresby

 I have lived for two years in this part of the city and I walk, sometimes drive up this road leading to Garden Hills Estate in Port Moresby.

Well this stretch of road is one of a "stress drive up" part of Port Moresby.

The road leading to Waigani Drive from Garden Hills Estate

Why do I say this?

The informal sector vendors mainly from the settlement on the right side of this picture sell their betel nut, cigarettes and food on the sides of this stretch of road.

While I do appreciate them trying to make ends meet, the set up and operations are not too well organised.

People are just every where, most times they care little about traffic on the road.

Few times drunks just stagger around with their homebrews, cigarettes and boom boxes.

But the worst one is cars parking on wrong sides of the road to buy betel nut causing unnecessary traffic jams.

A car travelling down from Garden Hills will park and the driver leisurely inconsiderate buys betel nut from a vendor on the right side of the road.

An oncoming car from Waigani Drive would not be able to pass through because this car is in the way.

A car that travels up from Waigani Drive parks on the right side of the road and this blocks the cars travelling down from Garden Hills. 

Some of the worst offenders are taxis.

Seriously they will show no sign of guilt.

They can just have their doors open and look at you struggling to go forward as if you were wrong.

Well these are not the only challenges. A compounding issue is you have crater like pot holes on this street.

Particularly when there's a downpour, this pot holes are so exposed.

Some are pretty deep.

The funny thing though and I think the National Capital District Commission should inquire into this and call for quality jobs for money paid.

Contractors who patch these pot holes for many times I have observed have done a poor job.

 Many high tax payers  live up this road and they deserve better from the municipal authority. 

These patches do not last.

A next downpour just washes them away.

The illegal road patchers then bring their expertise. They use their spades to temporarily poor soil on the pot holes and illegally force cars to pay them a few kina.

There are about six big pot holes that need to be attended to as soon as possible.

One is near Moni Plus.

Sharing all these, I appeal to road users to be considerate and do not park in the way of oncoming traffic.

A quick stop of 30 seconds is fine. There is just too many cars so it's unfair to take long.

Please fix the pot holes and they last so we can enjoy a good drive up and down.

What's in store for us having the office of National Library and Archives

There used to be a public library in Vanimo near Dali Beach.

There  is no more today.

We must make it mandatory to have public libraries in all ptovincial centres.

Our success for growth as a nation is to have highly educated and innovative population.

And one of the best ingredients to achieve this is to develop a reading culture and finally have a reading population.

Children as early as five must start to read and borrow books from public  libraries.

The office of the National Libary and Archives must head this.

Have full time librarians and support staff to run the libraries.

They must work with schools to promote programs about reading and writing to preserve our history.

With the introduction of internet there must be accessibility to online encyclopedia and research free of charge.

Drive membership for minimum fees for older population.

The office seems to pop up only during the book week and it goes back into hibernation.

The government and the education  department must seriously look into this.

Port Moresby taxis illegally park at places traffic has to flow

 Travelling to Erima and further from Gordons can be challenge maneuvering traffic caused by drivers negligence.

The bypass lane  for cars to turn into Gordon's Market is illegally occupied by taxis.

Yes I say illegally.

This compels cars to queue in the main lane to travel to Erima and beyond and making cars heading that way to use only one lane.

This should not be happening if we adhere to rules.

Obviously it causes traffic congestion.

Thank you to the Australia, New Zealand Governments and National Capital District Commission, the new Gordons Market has been an attraction for shoppers.

The ones who like organic foods.

But we need to manage these flaws that make movement difficult.

We need to build a city that is user friendly  allowing people to move about with ease.

Elsewhere in the city, issues of taxis taking up public parking for hours at popular business venues have been concerning too.

Downtown Port Moresby and Garden City, Boroko are few examples.

We need to regulate how they operate.

At the moment they operate as they please, and that is not good  for the  city's  image.

They also illegally park at public footpaths  near shops-forcing pedestrians to walk just at the edge of footpaths and drains.

We need to manage these issues now before they become cultural or may be they already are.

Can the National Road Safety Authority or NCDC look into this.

For the Gordon's Market situation.

Well not all of us have cars. So there must be  a designated taxi rank for drop off and pick up.

We can't have taxis waiting and occupying road sections where traffic has to flow.

The best time to shop at Koki Fish Market

The Koki Fish Market  in  Moresby South is probably  one of those shopping icons one should not miss in Port Moresby.

Well that is if you are after sea food.

Situated next to the stilt homes of Wanigela village, this National Fisheries Authority funded set up is proving to be beneficial to fishermen, vendors and buyers.

Couple of vendors I chatted with were selling fish from Fishermen Island, just offshore from Port Moresby's  CBD.

There's variety of sea food.

Well not really really variety but there seems to be a few.

I went looking for squid but only found octopus for a crazy K5. Unbelievable.

A bundle of "malangur" went for an unbelievable K10.

At road side markets this would be K30.

I think the prices were  slashed because vendors were rushing  to go home.

So my assumption is the best time to shop at Koki fish market would be late in the afternoon.

Now there's bonus for buyers.

There's  young  men who can clean your fish at the sinks there for you to take home and  have them straight into the pot or pan.

Which ever way you're cooking it.

Their bill, any tip is good.

I look at how much effort they put into it.

I gave a K6.

Koki Fish Market is a good infrastructural investment.

We need to ensure it serves its ultimate purpose and keep other vendors out.

People selling betel nut, cigarettes  and cooked food should not be allowed to vend there.

They are occupying the walkway with their illegal set up.