ADJUSTING WELL TO THE NEW NORMAL

 


East New Britain province boasts of its tourism industry and its thriving cash crop economy. But all these came to a standstill after the first case of covid 19 was reported in the province.

And like any other province, it shut its doors to the rest of the country to deal with the local transmission and the two positive cases that were reported thereafter.

The bustling commercial hub of the New Guinea Islands came to a halt, causing fear and anxiety among its citizens. All business houses closed their doors except for essential service providers.

State of Emergency Controller and Provincial administrator Wilson Matava said it was not easy to go into lockdown.

’’When you lockdown services, stop transportation, food, and medical supply, this is something else. This situation caused fear and it was something we couldn’t control. our people were not ready for the lockdown and it was a huge challenge. We quickly learned from the first case and with close collaboration with the medical team we developed our protocols,’’ said Mr. Matava.

’’Learning from those challenges, my team with the medical team set-up 8 sub-teams, that included communication & Awareness so we can respond immediately in terms of surveillance, awareness, and education. That was very important for us to empower our people during that time of panic. The only solution and approach for us were in education and awareness, we targeted our security team, medical officers, public servants, and politicians. We had to get support from our NOC team in Moresby, from the world bank and other support, we beefed up our awareness team. I am very thankful that NBC during that time played a very important role especially our local team here, in support of my local team providing information to the whole of ENB’’.

The Administration started developing its protocols, mobilizing their local pastors, community leaders, government officers, and others to continue awareness and education programs for their people.

Commitments were made by their local leaders to continue supporting different sectors to keep them afloat. And have worked with each of them to improve and develop their health and hygiene standards.

’’Stigma was a big challenge, we had to take a different approach and that is, adopt our cultures and traditions and what we believe in as a Christian nation and out of love and respect for each other. The challenges were immense, and we had to allow our industries to operate, our people to sell their copra, cocoa, balsa.’’

‘’ There are various economic challenges, our SMEs was hard hit also, especially our women who sell artifacts and garden produce''. But we also made sure our industries were operating and complied by developing their own health, hygiene, and safety standards and could operate within their estates. We had to work with them.

While the task force team was planning and re-strategizing, the people on the other hand went back to farm their land. An opportunity this pandemic has brought.

‘’I saw this as an opportunity to go back and farm my land, look at my cocoa farm, and re-strategize ways to earn an income. A lot of people panicked and had their version of tales, but I trusted God and was not worried about what people were saying. I did my part by following the covid protocols and obeying the rules and for that two weeks of lockdown paid off’’. Henry Tikura – Cocoa Farmer, Burit Ward, Vunapalading.

‘’We did not waste time when the first lockdown came into effect. We were in tune with our land. We continued planting, pruning, and taking care of our cocoa farms. While we were doing cocoa farming, we were also planting garden food. After the lockdown was uplifted, we had a surplus of food and we harvested our cocoa farm twice. This encouraged us to continue doing more’’’, Betty Tikura, Burit Ward, Vunapalading.


Betty Tikura talking to NBC officers at Burit Ward, Vunapalading

''Í joined my aunties, mother, and went into cocoa farming as well. Normally I will be with my peers, brewing and drinking homebrew and causing a lot of nuisance among our communities, but this time, the situation grounded me. I surprised myself and I’m grateful that I managed to plant good hectares of cocoa and peanuts’’, Kelly, Youth farmer of Burit, Vunapalading.

The people are resilient and in fact, they are the very people that lived through disasters that wiped out their townships and villages, they are known for their resilience and sense of community to come back from the difficult circumstance.

Mr. Matava said; ‘’We had a surplus supply of fresh produce. The Bainings and Pomios supplied fresh produce. There was assistance from Manus, Papuan, Chinese, and other ethnic communities, they all stood together and supplied food to our people. There were mixed reactions as to how people will recover. But They are resilient, they survived the 1994 eruptions, floods, and other natural disasters and still stood together. The churches played a major role in bringing peace and order. Our leaders stood together.''

When the lockdown was up lifted business was back to normal, but measures were put in place for the people to adhere to. The task force team encouraged locals to sell their produce at the roadside. Opening more economic opportunities for the farmers, entrepreneurs, and local SMEs to flourish during this period.


Sea Food Buffet served at  Mauke Island Retreat- Duke of York Islands

One such local SME was Mauke Island Retreat.

’’We had a strategy in place to keep us afloat and that was the involvement of youths encouraging them to take ownership of their resources and part take in small business opportunities. They brought in food and we bought it from them. We targeted local people to promote tourism,’’ said Justin Kuradal.

The Tourism sector who was badly affected came in to help. It was also an opportunity to improve some of its facilities. Establishing awareness protocols and having a lot more collaboration with the communities and improving services

‘’Duke of York Island is doing very well with regards to eco-tourism. They changed their approach and were targeting local tourists and people have been going there. We are assisting them by assessing their products and providing materials. Most of the setup is basic but good. Different sectors are doing their bit and for us in the tourism sector, we are working closely with the market authority and other line agencies. We will get there, it is a matter of time’’, Gard Renson, CEO ENB Tourism Authority.


Gard Renson being interviewed by NBC crew.

As a way forward, the provincial administrations will be working closely with Districts, Local level governments, and down to the ward levels to strengthen systems and work closely with people to adjust to the new normal.

‘’We have a plan as a government, its called and Economic Development Plan (EDP) and Urban Regional Planning (URP) established service center away from disaster-prone areas. We did not initiate new policies, there were reference points in terms of relocations, approaches, and strategies and how we can mitigate provided local solutions in times of challenges like this.’’

We have existing systems such as the 3 layers of government levels and will be working directing with the ward councilors, presidents, and the churches to equip them so they handle issues such as this and others. Those are just some of our plans. Id like to thank all stakeholders, business houses, expatriate communities, our people from other provinces, and many others. Their assistance made a difference in the province.''

END!

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

CONSTRUCTION SME PROVIDES PARTWAY FOR LAE YOUTHS

My Analysis on the PNG Media Policy v4 - 2023.

KUTUBU CELEBRATES 9TH FESTIVAL - 2019