The Menyamya District Development Authority (MDDA) and the Rural Airstrip Agency (RAA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on Thursday, January 16, 2025, to establish a working relationship and provide airstrip services for the Menyamya Station Airstrip in Menyamya District, Morobe Province. This MoA will be in effect for 3 years from the commencement date. The agreement was signed by the Member (MP) for Menyamya, Solen Loifa, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Menyamya DDA Fidelis Harrisol and Rural Airstrip Agency CEO Mrs. Kim Opiti, and was witnessed by RAA GDL Officer, Mr. Richard Longgar. Along with the signing, the MDDA presented a cheque for K33,000.000 to fund the initial survey of the Menyamya Station Airstrip, which RAA will soon carry out. Loifa said this is an important partnership, and he is looking forward to its commencement because airstrips have always been the primary means of transportation for the people of Menyamya before roads connected Menyamya to the rest of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Unfortunately, most of these airstrips are now non-operational due to a lack of maintenance and the unavailability of technical expertise in airstrip services. “Menyamya is a rural place that is landlocked. Just recently, we just got connected by road, but before that, we depended entirely on airstrips, which was the main mode of transportation for us,” he said. “This is the first step we are taking to revive these closed airstrips for our rural people by at least starting with the one airstrip, which is where the district headquarters is located, and then from here, we can move on to other airstrips in the district." Loifa added that it is part of MDDA’s 5-year plan to rehabilitate the airstrips that are currently non-operational in the district. He said that in this plan, funding will be made available specifically for airstrip maintenance. So, partnering with RAA is the initial step the district has taken to revive its closed airstrips. This partnership will benefit the district by sourcing the technical expertise required to carry out the appropriate airstrip services for the selected rural airstrips in the district. RAA CEO Mrs. Opiti thanked Menyamya DDA for partnering with RAA to improve airstrip services in their district. “We thank you for taking the first step into this relationship by reaching out to us and we look forward to getting the first airstrip done so we can continue the same work with the rest of the other airstrips,” said Mrs. Opiti.