Womayen Market in East Sepik province, the highly anticipated first-ever 24-hour market in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the first in the South Pacific, is set to commence its project work next month. Minister for International Trade and Investment and Yangoru-Saussia MP, Richard Maru, confirmed this after meeting with the leaders of the market project, who are eager to get started. “We are ready to kickstart the Womayen Project next month,” he stated. Minister Maru emphasized that the Yangoru-Saussia District Development Authority (DDA) and United Nations (UN) Women initiated the project, which aims to serve both the Yangoru-Saussia District and the people from the East and West Sepik Provinces who use the Sepik Highway. He also noted that this modern 24-hour market in PNG will be a state-of-the-art facility in the region. Additionally, he highlighted that UN Women has extensive experience in establishing and developing such markets around the world. The market will be constructed in three phases. The first phase will involve the village WASH project, which will launch next month and provide 200 water tanks to 200 families in Womayen Village. This will be followed by the second phase, which will consist of constructing a police station. The third phase will be the actual construction of the market. In total, the project is expected to cost K8 million and will serve as a significant transformation for the district and the province as a whole.