Yonki dam eyed as new tourism gem

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THE Government will develop tourism in the Yonki dam area in Kainantu, Eastern Highlands, to generate revenue for locals, according to an agreement.
The deal was signed by the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture and the Kainantu District Development Authority (KDDA) in Port Moresby yesterday.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister   Emil Tammur said it was to establish a framework for a partnership between the KDDA and the three agencies under his ministry  – the Tourism Promotion Authority, National Museum and Art Gallery and the National Cultural Commission.
“The focus will be tourism and its potential to generate revenue for the local communities. But it will also utilise areas covered by the other agencies under my ministry,” he said.
Kainantu MP Johnson Tuke said it had been his dream to develop tourism in the Yonki Dam area.
“The lake itself is so beautiful and you can never go wrong with tourism development,” he said.
Tuke said there were about 2000 expatriates living and working within the lake’s periphery at the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Tammur said while the Government had identified Milne Bay and East New Britain as tourism destinations, it would not stop his ministry from developing other tourism areas around the country such as the Yonki dam tourism project.