Chief plans to document Hela culture

HELA is planning to produce a documentary on its culture to promote the province as a tourist destination.
Hela chief Ivan Homoko, the chairman of the highlands region tourism, said the documentary would cover Hela culture and produced in their own language.
He said the government was focusing too much on resources and ignoring culture, thus Hela was planning to be the first province to produce a documentary.
Homoko said PNG was rich in culture and there were ways of promoting and attracting tourists.
Homoko said from the 800 languages, people named river, plants and animals differently, and the same applied to culture.
“I see that culture is fading as people are starting to adapt to modern lifestyles. How can we keep our cultures?”
He said the documentary would cover all the traditions used in the past.
Homoko said culture would attract tourists.
He said the government was funding the PNG Kumuls in rugby league instead of investing in culture.
“I called on the government to look seriously into culture and not giving most attention to minerals and resources,” he said.