ENB public servants praised

 MINISTER for Public Service Sir Puka Temu has praised public servants in East New Britain for rebuilding the province following the twin volcanic eruptions in 1994.

“I acknowledge the vibrancy and great commitment of all public servants in East New Britain. Through tough times, you have stood strong,” Sir Puka said.

He told more than 300 public servants in the province on Monday during a meeting that he was moved by the work they had done in ensuring that ENB remained the leading province although it was devastated during the volcanic eruptions.

Sir Puka also praised the work of the Gazelle Restoration Authority in the past 18 years, saying it had brought back ENB to life after the eruptions.

“If we are to learn from a province in terms of policy stability, it has to be ENB, it has showed great leadership in such terms,” he said.

He said ENB was the only province that started early in supporting the front-liners – local level governments.

“Waigani only woke up very recently and realised that it was important to support our LLGs throughout the nation in terms of funds,” he said.

He added with the K13 billion budgeted this year, bulk of it went to LLGs and districts as it was the government’s aim to ensure implementation is carried out this year.

Temu said it was important for public servants at the LLG and district level to note that service delivery entirely depended on them.

He also visited Rabaul district to see certain projects and how far the district has risen from devastation to its current status.

Sir Puka was in the province for the Islands region Public Sector workforce development consultative workshop in Kokopo.