Mama Bank opened a new office on Misima Island in Samarai-Murua District, Milne Bay Province, last Friday. This marks a significant milestone for the Samarai-Murua District Development Authority and local member Isi Henry Leonard, as it reintroduces banking services to the island for the first time since the closure of Misima Mine in 2004. When giving his remarks, Mr. Leonard said banking services was a vital need in the carrying out of business in the district and it was necessary for people and SMEs among other economic activity. The banking system had been lacking since the mine closure and partnering with MAMA Bank to establish its services in the district, starting on Misima island as the district headquarters, was timely. “We can put our portion, and the National Government will put its portion through its SME programs and through this we are able to help our people. My idea is simple, whatever money we put in here it must be used to buy resources, your gold, your fish, your vanilla and all other economic programs that we can envisage." “The fact of the matter is that the money will be parked here, if you sell your fish with Kekeisi fishing program, there will be an arrangement, you come here and collect your cash through your account,” Mr. Leonard said. He encouraged a savings culture and a community where everyone in the district had access to bank accounts and with Mama Bank running financial literacy programs on banking, this would be appropriate for his people. Now that the bank is established, they would be able to do three things, first the National Identification (NID), secondly company SME registration and thirdly open bank accounts so people do not have to travel to Alotau as these services would be provided at the Mama Bank. “When you sell your fish with Kekeisi, you pick up your cash from the Mama Bank through this arrangement. We create a cashflow in the local community. Once there is cashflow, it will stimulate other economic programs,” Mr. Leonard said. This would stimulate cashflow into other parts of the district like Rossel, Sudest in Yaliemba Local Level Government (LLG), Woodlark in Murua LLG and Bwanabwana LLG. He said the only reasonable thing to do was to bring a bank, a bank that was able to fit into their way of life as there were banking challenges when trying to open an account, the requirements and the compliance all added up to the whole process. MAMA Bank Project Manager Prabhash Misha commended the MP for Samarai-Murua for his foresight in enabling the bank to establish in the district. “Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this partnership, we appreciate your leadership, your commitment and your vision to develop the district to its greater potential. We are with you on this journey, and we assure you the best of our services tailored in meeting the needs and requirements of the women, men and their families,” Mr. Misha said. Mr. Misha said this was an opportunity for the MAMA Bank operations to see where they stood with their operations in Misima, and once the final report was submitted to the Bank of PNG for the final clearance, they would then return with their staff and regular operations as soon as possible. Mama Bank has 21 branches and mini branches within 12 provinces so far, as its services continued to grow stronger and better.