‘Don’t turn away small borrowers’

THERE is a need for national and local savings and loan schemes to be lenient when considering loan applications from small business people, Communication and Information Minister Patrick Tammur said.
Mr Tammur, who is Kokopo MP, said this when presenting a cheque for K200,000 to Kokopo Microfinance and another K50,000 to the National Development Bank (NDB).
He called on the two lending group not to turn away any local businessman or woman seeking a loan, but to carefully screen their applications with the aim of helping them.
Mr Tammur said small business people were no longer able to get loans from the bigger commercial banks and their only hope rested with such schemes as the Kokopo Microfinance and the NDB which were set up to cater for the small people.
The K200,000 presented to Kokopo Microfinance was the balance of the K400,000 which was budgeted to start the operation of the local savings and loan scheme some years ago.
The scheme was able to successfully get off the ground with only K200,000 and currently, it boosted several thousand members throughout the region.
A recent report from the scheme revealed that several million kina in savings and loans had been processed.
The additional K200,000 would assist the scheme to expand more and lure more members.
The K50,000 given to the NDB branch in Kokopo is aimed at assisting cooperative societies which are emerging in Kokopo and the in entire province.
NDB representative in Kokopo Paul Viritia said that although the bank had its policies and criteria, he would do his best to assist the local people.