By KDDA in Focus

After more than three decades of isolation, the Sambugla Tribe in Simbu Province will finally connect to the outside world through an 11-kilometer road now under construction along Gaug Road.

The Sambugla people, living on the rugged slopes of Bombai Mountain in Gena Waugla LLG, have endured generations without access to basic services. Communities including Silku, Kamaniku, Pagau, and Dhage tribes have watched other areas develop while they remained cut off from markets, schools, and healthcare.

Children missed education opportunities. Farmers could not sell their produce. The sick faced dangerous delays reaching medical help. This isolation ends now.

Kerowagi MP and Vice Minister for Public Service, Hon. Francis Kikin Siune, drove the project forward through negotiations with local leaders and the Kerowagi District Development Authority (KDDA) and made a pathway for ADB to do the upgrade.

The road forms part of Phase 2 of Asian Development Bank-funded infrastructure upgrades, connecting Donau to Nondugl via areas including Bamna, Demang, Deng, Kewamugl, Duakonange, Kukgonange, Awage, Gagugl, and Omugl to the old highway route.

For the Sambugla people, this road means more than sealed surfaces. It represents freedom from exclusion and a chance to share in Kerowagi’s progress. The construction machinery brings hope that their children will attend school regularly, their farmers will reach markets, and the sick will receive timely medical care.

Hon. Siune’s leadership ensures no community remains forgotten. This road marks the beginning of a new era where the Sambugla people become active participants in their district’s growth, not isolated observers.