Tag

Rufina Peter

Browsing
News

100th Anniversary

By

The beautiful Yule Island in Central’s Kairuku district is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Lieutenant Léon BOURJADE, a French flying ace in the First World War who died in 1924.

The restored plaque of Lieutenant Léon BOURJADE.

As part of the celebrations, crew members of Auguste Bénébig a French navy vessel based in New Caledonia, anchored on the island and performed a memorial action through the cleaning and restoration of the grave of Lieutenant Léon BOURJADE. Famous for his “acrobatic” landings, his name is still associated with aviation through the expression “landing like Bourjade”.

French Navy vessel Auguste Bénébig at anchor on Yule Island, Kairuku District.

French Ambassador Guillaume Lemoine, European Union Ambassador Jacques Fradin and Central Governor, Rufina Peter were part of the dignitaries to the island.

The commemoration ceremony of Lieutenant Léon BOURJADE comes days after the first official visit of General Yann LATIL, Commander of the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia (FANC), to Papua New Guinea. He made a 3-days official visit to Port Moresby at the end of February, where he met officials from Department of Defence and PNGDF to sign a 2024-2025 cooperation plan.

French Ambassador Guillaume Lemoine (right), European Union Ambassador Jacques Fradin (obscured), crew members of Auguste Bénébig and Central Governor Rufina Peter (center) laying wreaths in honour of Lieutenant Léon BOURJADE

The FANC enable France to have permanent military presence in the Pacific Region in order to protect French interests in the region and maintain France’s military partnerships in this area of strategic interest.

With over 1,650 military personnel, the FANC provide regular support for missions involving government action at sea. They have the capacity to intervene in the event of a security or climatic crisis affecting the area. The FANC regularly share their expertise in the field of HADR and maritime security with the security and defence forces of partner countries in the Pacific.

Keep Reading
By
Agriculture

Office for Cocoa Farmers

By
Cocoa Farmers

Cocoa farmers in the Southern Region were gifted an office space on the third floor of Monian Tower in Port Moresby.

The small office set up consists of a reception area, where cocoa farmers can wait to be served. Workstations for two officers, the manager’s office and reasonable size board room for meetings and consultations purposes.

To signify this approach, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed, between Central Provincial Government and the Cocoa Board of Papua New Guinea (CBPNG).

The Central Governor, Rufina Peter, while commending the Cocoa Board added that cocoa farming in Central Province has a massive potential for generating income and needs a collaborative effort by relevant authorities.

“I am sure with collaborative efforts with the Cocoa Board we want to add to the statistics of production cocoa in the province,” said the Governor.

Cocoa Board CEO, Jesse Anjen, said the set-up of the Regional Office marks the first agreement between the Cocoa Board and a provincial government in the Southern Region.

“I am pleased this is what has happened. What we say and what we preach must happen. We are here to assist small holders in the Central Province. Particularly the Southern Region but we must do the work for it to become a reality,” said Anjen.

A K1 Million funding was put forward by the Central Provincial Government. This is to strengthen efforts of CBPNG in pushing for exports and downstream processing.

“The thing that excites me the most is, the opening of the Cocoa Board office for Southern Region and Central Province. I congratulate the board management of Cocoa Board for this decision. To finally consider Central Province as a potential cocoa producing province,” said Governor Peter.

Meanwhile, the Central Provincial Government has been conducting trainings and other programs. Along with the Department of Agriculture and Livestock with plans to develop the sector.

A recent workshop was also held at Kwikila Station in August this year.

Keep Reading
By
News

 EDEVU HYDROPOWER DAM OPENS

By

The Edevu Hydropower project in the Hiri Koiari District of Central Province was officially launched by Prime Minister James Marape Last Friday.

The Edevu Hydro Power project is located at the head waters of Brown River, and apart from Rauna in Sogeri, this is the second hydro power project in central province, and both in the same district.

There with the Prime Minister was Central Governor Rufina Peter, Hiri Koiari MP Keith Iduhu, including State Ministers, Landowners and stake holders.

The commissioning of the reservoir impoundment signifies an important milestone for the project.

This means, the dams will now be filled with water, for power generation and distribution.

Initial negotiations on the project began in 2009, and it has taken over 14 years to get to this stage.

The hydro power project is expected to produce over 54 megawatts of power, which will cater for NCD and Central province, including parts of Gulf and Milne Bay provinces.

It is a private investment between the Koiari Land Owners and Chinese Investor, PNG Hydro Development Limited, built at a cost of over K650 million kina.

According to Prime Minister James Marape, the PNG government is supporting the project, by way of K120 million for transmission lines from Edevu to Port Moresby which is already under construction.

“We are a nation in pursuit of development in the power sector, we want 70 percent of our country – by 2030 – to have accessibility to cheap, reliable and green energy to our country” PM Marape said.

Speaking on the occasion Central Province Governor Rufina Peter, welcomed the project and raised concerns on equal land owner participation.

She said over the years land owners of Sirinumu dam in Sogeri, have not been compensated well, and land owners of Edevu must be better captured and considered in benefit sharing agreements.

“We must not ignore the land owners and the provincial government in participating in critical activities, including benefit sharing,” the governor said.

State Enterprise Minister William Duma further assured the people that the government has given directions for better benefit sharing packages for land owners at Sirinumu.

He said the government will continue to work together with investors and land owners to ensure there are opportunities for all to participate.

Keep Reading
By
News

Central Governor’s First Official Visit

By
Group Photo_Department of Personnel Management

CENTRAL Governor, Rufina Peter dropped by the Department of Personnel Management for her first Government Department visit since being sworn in as Governor of Central Province on 9th August 2022.

The purpose of the on Thursday 11th August 2022 was to discuss Human Resource employment development for Central Province with the DPM Secretary, Taies Sansan.

Central Governor, Rufina Peter with DPM Secretary, Taies Sansan.

During the visit, the newly appointed Governor said, as a woman and a political leader she and other women politicians have to be demonstrative in order to debunk the perception of women being ineffective in the political space.

Ms. Peter said she and colleague, the newly appointed Rai Coast MP, Kessy Sawang will prove the effectiveness of women politicians in their next five years in office and she is looking at a critical Human Resource to ensure their performances are demonstrated.

“We can be political heads, but we need public servants who can articulate our vision and make it happen,” said Ms. Peter.

After meeting with the DPM Secretary, Ms. Peter was given a rousing welcome by staff members, mostly women, who congratulated Ms. Peter, expressing a sense of empowerment in sharing her win.

DPM Secretary, Taies Sansan told the Central Governor that DPM boasted a ratio of 60% women staffers who hold executive management positions. She gave the Central Governor the assurance that DPM looks forward to working closely with the Central Provincial Government in building the Human Resource and public service job employment.

Meanwhile Governor Peter said she needs to make sure that those who work with her administer and put the people’s interest first by articulating her vision to fit the needs of the people of Central province.

Keep Reading
By
Pin It