The Chief Secretary to Government today presented a cheque to the CPL Group as part of the National Government’s second relief assistance package for Stop & Shop outlets and facilities destroyed during the Black Wednesday riots and lootings that took place in Port Moresby and parts of the country. The presentation took place this morning in front of the newest Stop & Shop retail outlet, which was opened for business just yesterday, at the Rainbow Estate in the city of Port Moresby. The Chief Secretary, Mr. Ivan Pomaleu, when presenting the cheque of K16.1 million support to the CPL Group, said that the opening of the second Stop & Shop outlet, following the first new one opened recently at 8 Mile, signifies resilience and the ability of the company to pick up the pieces and continue to trade, providing service to the community. “On this occasion, it is quite fitting that my small team and I are here just to present government support to CPL Group of companies,” said the Chief Secretary. “This is by no means the first, we supported with wage support quite early in the year immediately after the events of 10th of January (Black Wednesday), and this is now support for restocking and where necessary, clearing up and rebuilding premises.” Mr. Pomaleu, who is also a long-time resident of Ranbow Estate, urged the community to support the business as it opens to serve them. “Without the support of the communities, we will not have business operating in a safe and secure environment,” he said. “As we saw on the 10th of January, when communities are compelled to be part of evil acts of destruction and looting, we lose the convenience of walking into a place where we can get our support for our homes.” There to receive the government cheque was CPL Group Board Director, Ms. Mary Handen who on behalf of her CPL Board Chairman and Executives and members, thanked the National Government for the continued support. “We are so, so grateful and I can say that it is a show of the commitment that you are helping us here,” said Ms. Handen. Reflecting back, she said the 10th of January event was unfortunate but with the support of the government, the CPL Group will progress to eventually getting back to full operations. “CPL is not going to go down in anyway, we are here, we are a household name, we serve many communities here, we serve our customers, we serve the farmers. We are here to stay and no matter what we will still be resilient, and we will still grow.” “From day one, the board took a firm stand that we will continue to build whatever we have lost, and 8 Mile was the first shop that we opened after the 10th of January incident, this is the second shop,” said the Board Director when stressing on the significance of the cheque presentation at Stop & Shop Rainbow.