Dad saving for daughter’s school fees early

A FARMER from Karawara in the Duke of York Islands, East New Britain, has been working hard to be financially prepared while awaiting his daughter’s exam results.
Anton Katkat, for the last two months, has been busy harvesting copra for his daughter’s school fees.
His daughter is in Grade 12 at th George Brown Secondary school.
Katkat said the current drought season was timely as it helped with copra production.
“My biggest concern at this time is school fees,” he said.
“For us here on the island, our main cash crop is copra.
“We rely on copra as a source of income to pay for our children’s school fees, that’s priority. Then others we look at other school needs and the least is store goods like salt, sugar, tin-fish and rice.”
“This is the right time for me to prepare myself financially.
“We don’t know the results yet but to be on the safe side I have to do this to have money ready so whatever happens if the results comes out positive I don’t have to look for assistance and support from leaders or relatives.”
Katkat said the provincial scholarships were not accessible by them which makes it difficult for parents to get assistance for school fees. He said the islanders made their living through copra and fish farming.
Katkat also said transportation and weather were some issues they faced when it comes to transporting their copra to Kokopo as it also puts their lives at risk while travelling.
“Transportation is another issue and boat owners have different charges,” he said.
“We have to pay each bag of copra plus the boat fare.
“It would be better if the wholesaler coconut product and the provincial government come up with an agreement to set a buying point here to save us some cost.”