The National Fisheries Authority (NFA) presented two separate cheques to the Autonomous Bougainvillea Government (ABG) and the Manus provincial government to support their coastal fisheries project.
On afternoon of Monday 15th December, the team from the ABG led by the Minister for Fisheries, Marine Resources and Climate Change, Amanda Masono, were at the NFA office boardroom to receive the check of K5million from the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Fisheries Minister Jelta Wong, who assured the team of the continued NFA support in this area.
“It’s an obligation that we have to do, a grant that we are giving back,” said Minister Wong.
“I’m very happy that we have this grant to give because I can see that under the leadership of our new minister for fisheries for the ABG, I think we can go a long way.”
Going forward, Minister Wong also said the NFA and the ABG must fast track some of the work together to ensure that in the future the licensing of coastal products go back to the ABG.
ABG Minister Masono thanked her counterpart and said going forward, there will be some changes taking place to ensure the effective implementation of the coastal fisheries projects with the use of the grants.
She said previously, funds that were given didn’t fully support the projects due to the absence of proper systems or mechanisms in place to invest in their priorities in coastal fisheries.
“We will begin by reviewing the Bougainville Fisheries Management Act and look at getting the right legal framework in place to ensure that we have the right mechanisms, systems and processes to really invest on the coastal fisheries.
“We are prioritizing seaweed farming and also establishing sea cucumber hatcheries.”
She said these are programs they want to invest in to sustain the people on ground and also contribute to the internal revenue of Bougainville.
Meanwhile, Minister Wong also presented K6million cheque to Manus Governor, Charlie Benjamin that same afternoon right after the meeting with the team from ABG. The K6million is an instalment of a K30million for the Manus provincial government to support coastal fisheries and other major fisheries projects and programs planned for the province.
