MENDI town, the capital of Southern Highlands Province, has undergone multiple breakdowns in various sectors and divisions as a result of many factors, mostly natural disasters, tribal conflicts and politics.
Mostly referred to as Murumbu, Mendi town was once home to people of different regions and provinces around Papua New Guinea.
Public servants and traditional Tultuls were once inhabitants of the town, living and working among local landowners.
Mendi has hosted longest serving public servants who migrated from all parts of the four regions of Papua New Guinea, who served and lived in the Mendi Urban LLG for many decades.
Those were the days when peace, harmony, unity and diversity were the basic principles of livelihood in the neighborhoods of the town and surrounding communities.
However, in the recent decade, the town drastically lost its original glory and form. The once called sweet Murumbu has transformed into a Zombie metropolis with multiple closures of business activities.
Politics and tribal conflicts have become the main source of threat, causing fear among people of the various tribes and clans, as well as other Papua New Guineans who live within the surrounding host communities in Mendi town.
Consecutive political anarchies in the 2017 and 2022 National General Elections have severely contributed towards the breakdown of economic activities, forcing has potential investors to evacuate the town. This further resulted in low monetary circulation and inflation.
The National Court House and several other government agency offices were burnt down in 2017, whereas multiple urban settlements like Old Compound, Tubiri Village, parts of Health compound and Paga Hill vanished in flames by worrying supporters of two political candidates who were once comrades during the 2022 General Elections.
Despite these challenges and setbacks affecting the local economy of this once glorious township, Mendi town is now undergoing facelift in the business sector with several redevelopment initiatives by local Southern Highlanders.
The famous Provincial Administration building, Agiru Centre, has been rehabilitated and it now looks captivating to the general public.
Rehabilitative works have been done by Ignitez Construction Limited, a locally owned designated contractor.
Speaking to the Sunday Bulletin Newspaper, the company highlighted that they will be ready to host all offices of the provincial administration starting next year, once the final touches are done.
The town is also retailing fresh Congo Coffee, distributed by Poiyo Bakery Limited through their coffee shop, to serve the general public every day.
Despite longest serving foreign Retail Shop leaving the town due to economic challenges, local business houses have decided to endure the challenges and are still operating and serving the people.
Local business houses like Pisgah Limited, Shir Shar Electronics, Local Trading, Wantok Trading, Wanbel Enterprises, Sunset Minimart and several other restaurants are still operating, providing the much-needed services to customers on daily basis.
On the other end, local construction companies like Construct Oceanic Limited, Cane Constructions, Gravity Engineering, Kemele Constructions, Pyramid Constructions, and Macovs continue to work on several road infrastructure and building projects throughout vicinity of Mendi Central.
The local people have also taken community development initiatives to revive the township and restore its former magnificence.
Furthermore, Mangani Market is now in full operation despite the recent devastating flood that demolished properties and affected lives of settlers within the market locality.
The market resumed its normal business as local farmers continue to bring in fresh produce from places as far as Tambul Nembilyer district of Western Highlands Province.
The town is now operating normally, through collaborative efforts from the local people, development partners and the provincial government, despite collective impairments that disintegrated the reputation of the urban area and its people.
