The Somare Institute of Governance and Leadership on Friday presented a cheque of K350,000 to the landowners of Kagamuga of Western Highlands Province who have held off their land for the purpose of service delivery to establish the first ever SILAG Highlands Regional Centre. CEO of SILAG, Mr. Michael Barobe thanked and acknowledged the landowners for agreeing to sell their land to SILAG, which will be used for a greater cause for the country. He said the management has been looking for land to permanently set up a SILAG campus in the Highlands Region, and it is a relief that they have finally secured land in Mt. Hagen. Mr. Barobe said the agreement to initially purchase the land took place back in 2006, however due to change of management and government, it took SILAG 18 years to finally pay off the landowners of the Yamka tribe in the WHP. “We have about four regional training centers and three of these have their centers up and running." "For the NGI region its up in Kokopo, for Momase region its in Madang and Southern is in Port Moresby." "But one that is missing is the Highlands region since 2006.” The Mt. Hagen Campus is the Highlands Regional Training Centre, where all the public servants in the Highlands are expected to undergo training at this campus. The main agenda is to bring SILAG to your doorstep, and that has been further made possible by the recent announcement of all SILAG programs to be delivered online. SILAG Chairlady Ms. Taies Sansan said there is a greater need for public servants at the provincial level and district level to be trained, and that is why SILAG is keen on setting up campuses throughout the country. She said government services are not reaching rural areas because public servants at the district levels lack the knowledge in proper planning and aligning district plans with the government’s plans. The Somare Institute of Leadership and Governance’s role is to provide training where there is specific need, and that includes proper planning at the district levels up to the national level of government. She said establishing the Highlands Regional Training Centre is part of the government’s plan to push public servants back into the districts and provinces to work, while only 20% of the public servants are supposed to be working in the urban centers. The Kagamuga Landowners representative, Mr. Willie Wanaga thanked the SILAG and its management for choosing to establish the Highlands Regional Training Centre on their land. He said his people and the community back home will be willing to help out and put things together on ground once construction phase starts. Though it a long time, he acknowledged the past and current SILAG management for coming through with the payment for their land. To conclude, the SILAG CEO called out to all the provincial governments of the Highlands provinces to partner with SILAG to deliver the long-term and short-term courses to their staff based on their needs. The programs offered by SILAG vary from long-term courses to short-term courses, which has contributed immensely to public sector capacity building. He further called on the people of the Western Highlands Province to work in partnership with the SILAG management during the establishment phase of the Highlands Regional Training Centre.