Awards and honours

ADVERTISEMENTS are now being published in the daily newspapers to have people nominated for the Independence Day awards for their contribution to the development of Papua New Guinea.
This is one time when people will be writing to the Governor-General’s Office to salute people they believe deserve to be honoured.
Papua New Guinea’s own Logohu awards also follow the same process.
There are indeed many people out there who ought to be recognised and appreciated for the contribution they are making to PNG and the people.
In the past, we have had recipients who lived in good environs and were easy to nominate.
As an Eastern Highlander, I often go down the list of awardees each time and I am often disappointed to see that some good people who have contributed meaningfully in my province are overlooked. I can list them here now but I value their privacy.
Already we are seeing that some people have been over-awarded which seems to suggest that we have run out of contenders and therefore happy to simply recycle those who have been honoured in the past.
We can see this in the list of honours issued each time.
I suggest that all provinces have their own recognition and awards.
Eastern Highlands governor, I challenge your good office to take this on as there are many people of the province who have contributed immensely to the development of the province and PNG.
I am suggesting this because not many Eastern Highlanders have been recognised, although many are doing good work that needs to be acknowledged.

Frank Gamezuho
Goroka