Couple hits the ground running

Manus entrepreneurs build a new hotel to reap in prepration for the foreseeable growth of tourism in the island province

WITH talk of development coming to Manus, Manusian Mochon Peter is not waiting until then to get into business to make money. He has already started.
And what better incentive to keep going than to be asked to host the Prime Minister at his newest lodge during Prime Minister James Marape’s New Year’s visit to the island province.
The 46-year-old local is already onto his fifth business and this time trying his hand at expanding his guest house facility into a 32-room hotel, Lorengau’s newest hotel.  When completed, the hotel will take pride of place upon Red Hill in Ward 1, on the periphery of town and taking full advantage of the view of Seeadler Harbour.
Peter is among the few enterprising local Manusians who, despite the isolation of Manus and the hardship in operating businesses in this far-flung province, have dug their heels in and kept going.
Having been raised by his grandfather, Peter abandoned school at Grade 6 when the old man died but his learning curve came when he moved to East New Britain in 1997 to live with his sister and brother-in-law, who own and operate a construction business.
He says he picked up business skills from the couple and was inspired enough to return to his home province to try his hand at something.
With only K600 as his start-up capital, Peter started trading second-hand clothing about 2005, then moved into selling stationary (2007), trading store goods and food (2009), bought a piece of land and registered a construction company (2010), built a retail store (2010), added a guest house to the list (2017), then a security firm (2018), and now expanding his tourism facility into a full hotel (2019).
“After returning to Manus, I became one of the youngest businessmen of Manus,” says Peter in Tok Pisin.
“I started and now many young men here are moving into business themselves after seeing my example. We used to think that only older people could do this, after getting their business degrees; but not anymore. After I started, people are seeing that SME (Small Medium Enterprises) is for us the little people.”
Today, Peter owns Jumecalinc Holdings Limited, Kingfisher Inn, Kingfisher Security, Tolu Constructions Limited (that includes 15 pieces of earthmoving machinery), and now trying to complete his newest hotel, Hotel Admiralty. He has also started another retail business, Wopa Trading, under his wife’s name and has her managing it.
Three weeks ago the quietly-spoken Manus inlander and his wife of four years, Naomi Pepi, were asked to host the Prime Minister and Rachael Marape during PM Marape’s five-day visit to Manus. The SME couple hosted the country’s first couple at the Red Hill lodge, a 3-bedroom executive-type bungalow that is part of his Kingfisher Inn establishment, while he accommodated the prime ministerial protection guards at the Kingfisher Inn at the bottom of the hill.
PM Marape was delighted at the initiatives Peter has taken to build himself up through SME, as this is among his Government’s agenda to grow the country’s middle class and expand the economy even more.
Peter, on the other hand, was extremely proud to host the Prime Minister, saying the stay at his Kingfisher Inn bungalow “has greatly blessed us and boosted our morale”.
He said: “We have no experience in hosting people of this level. Over the two weeks before the arrival, my wife and I prepared things, put it this way, argued over it, removed it, put them back, but in the end, it came together.”
If hosting the Prime Minister is the indication of many more good things to come, Peter is happy for it. Right now, his grand dream – Hotel Admiralty – stands incomplete at the top of the hill since 2019, waiting for its owner to find the money to finish it.
“We really want to finish it. It will be two storeys, with a restaurant, gift shop, internet café, a conference room that can take up to 80 people, 28 rooms, and four separate rooms that are executive, self-contained ones. The sides will all be glass so while in conference, you can look out onto nature and the Bay to see the islands and ships come and go,” says Peter.
He adds with the end of the asylum seekers processing programme on Manus, revenue that came with it is no longer available to help boost their business help fund the completion of this newest project.
“I also fight every day with the Asian businessmen who are overtaking us here in Manus. We have a lot of Asians here, approximately seven Asians to every three local businessmen.”
Peter says he is now looking forward to getting some help under the Government’s SME scheme to help him complete the hotel.
“I have not received this kind of help. But I have proven that SME can be done. I started with K600 so I can do this. If the SME scheme can assist, I can prove to Manus that I got money from the scheme and completed this hotel. At the opening, I want the Governor and Prime Minister to come and cut the ribbon to demonstrate that SMEs are working, even for those of us as far away as in Manus.”
Peter says he looks forward to completing the hotel as, he says, he hears the Marape Government is thinking of developing tourism in Manus.
“We want to be ready for tourists; not just starting to build when tourists are already coming in and looking for places to stay,” he stresses.
“Is Manus good for tourism? Oh yes! Very much so. We have the market. We have many dive sites, caves under the sea. We have many beautiful islands with marine life, areas where turtles nest, snails that are peculiar to Manus.
“Our problem has been that we are too far. From Australia to here is very expensive than Australia to Port Moresby. Now that we might have our airport upgraded to international level and with the Government opening up the doors to tourism in Manus, I have no doubt this place will take off.
“For Naomi and me, this is very good news.”

• Story and pictures from the Office of the Prime Minister’