Envoy launches Wash facilities

BRITISH High Commissioner to PNG Keith Scott on Friday launched water sanitation hygiene (Wash) facilities and hygiene activities at Notofana Primary School in Goroka district Eastern Highlands on Friday.
Scott congratulated the school’s head teacher John Siune, its board, and teachers for being active partners of the Wash programme Touching The Untouchables and Oxfam International PNG.
Scott’s visit was to see the successful outcomes of funding from the European Union (EU) and Unicef-funded Wash programmes in Goroka.
He visited Kama Day High School to officially open its newly built toilet facilities.
Scott said the United Kingdom wanted to promote best practices and was funding Wash projects in Western Highlands and Eastern Highlands with K1 million.
He said over 8,000 students and 40,000 people were benefiting from the project.
Siune said his school was one of the 50 schools captured under the Wash and sanitation and hygiene projects 2019-2020.
He said Touching The Untouchables was responsible for the software component and Appropriate Technology (AT) Projects was responsible for the hardware component.
Siune said Notofana Primary School which was 11 kilometres out of Goroka in ward one of Miminalo local level government, was established in 1974.
“Since the establishment of the school, water, sanitation and hygiene remains a huge challenge every year, girls’ menstrual hygiene management was a great issue coupled with students fell ill with waterborne diseases,” he said.
Siune said the lack of proper facilities had affected academic progress of students and many had left school.
Siune said the current Wash facilities and the sanitation and hygiene project gave hope for students to learn in a cleaner environment.
The school has 15 teachers and 542 students.