DIOCESE OF AITAPE CHURCH BUILDING PROGRAM

	News report No. 10 January 2003 Diocese of Aitape P O Box 179 Aitape Sandaun Province Papua New Guinea Ph +675 8572046 fax +675 8572056
Aitape Haus Lotu Projects

Introduction:

Welcome to the first report for 2003. This is the tenth report in the Church Building program for the month of January 2003. Progress throughout 2002 established agreements with all of the sub parishes, and saw work started at Amu, and plans in progress for the other nine buildings to be built. This month we report on: further progress at Amu, design work on the next phase of the churches, and on a break in at the Aitape storage shed over the Christmas holidays.

Further Progress at Amu

Work started in the New Year on 20 January. The crew for the walkabout saw and the foundation works resumed at Amu, and the welders were back to continue with the steel posts. By the end of January, the foundation works required only the rear ground beam and several cages to be completed. The local people have already began to backfill around the ground beams up to the level of the underside of the concrete floor. They transported the stone that was collected by the machines last month and left in the nearby stockpile. The people have arranged themselves in teams, and carried in the stones in wheelbarrows and limbim bags that the women use to carry produce back from the gardens. It was a team effort, men and women and children of all ages, carrying all manner of containers in an effort to contribute to the construction of their church. They are paid when the work is complete, so they try to complete the task as quickly as possible. So far, the people are enthusiastic and the progress is very fast.The timber cutting has resumed, and now more of the kwila beams needed for the large rafters are being cut. The supervisors returned from Vanimo, and the local helpers are on hand to assist. The break in (see below) did not disrupt the start of the works because the chainsaw was recovered, but we discovered that some of the stolen tools were the very ones we needed to replace the belts from the motor to the saw. This caused us some delays. The saw is now in full production.

Break in at the Aitape storage shed:

Over the Christmas holiday period, thieves broke into the storage shed belonging to the Franciscan Friars at Aitape where a lot of the tools and materials for the Church Building Program are kept. We had put the walkabout saw, chainsaw and tools there after bringing them back from the bush just before Christmas. Materials bought for the new church buildings: nails rolls of plastic underlay and wire and steel rods were also stored in this shed. A full report of the break-in together with photos of the articles recovered can be read in the January 2003 issue of the Aitape Star. Fortunately we were able to recover the chainsaw and most of the tools which are the most expensive things stolen, in time to start work again on 20 January. Our thanks go to the local police, and all those local people in the settlements who reported information to the police and the parish priest. Earlier last year we also had thefts from the cement stockpile in town.

The photo shows the cement stockpile, which at one time contained 82 tons of cement under cover and wrapped in ground plastic. This storage area is close to the wharf so that forklift trucks can move the cement pallest over to this hardstand area after they arrive. As the cement is needed at the various church sites, the pallets are loaded and trucked out. In spite of the area being fenced and houses nearby, thieves broke in and stole bages of cement. After that night, security was employed to keep watch. There was also steel mesh stored here temporarily.

Other Sites:

Following the survey last year at Olbrum and Barupu, some preliminary design work was done on new churches for these two sites. More details will be given later, however some preliminary drawings were done of possible designs to enable comment by the bishop. Costings and further detail will follow later. Another option was drawn up for the Ningle church in the bush, and plans to upgrade the Cathedral in Aitape.