Groups to get grants
The National, Tuesday July 29th, 2014
TWELVE women’s associations in mine impacted communities in the country have been selected to receive government grants worth more than K1 million.
These associations are from the Ramu Nickel Mine (Madang), Porgera (Enga), Hidden Valley (Morobe), Simberi (New Ireland), Sinivit (East New Britain) and Lihir (New Ireland) project areas.
The 12 are part of a total of 33 associations and groups that applied for the grants.
The unsuccessful applicants will be assisted and their applications re-assessed with the view to enable them to access the grants.
The grants come under the National Government’s assistance scheme called Small Grants Project (SGP) for women impacted by mining operations, funded through the World Bank mining sector institutional strengthening technical assistance project 2.
The SGP is being managed by the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) with support from relevant government agencies.
The grant aims to assist the associations to start up small enterprises or further develop existing businesses.
Successful applicants have been selected based on set criteria, including the capacity to sustain their projects in the long-term.
All applicants were taken through the criteria in two workshops held earlier this year. Representatives of successful associations are in Lae this week to undergo training on project management so that they can be able to properly manage the grants when they receive them.
The next stage of the SGP would be the disbursements of the grants by the MRA, implementation of the projects by the associations followed by monitoring and evaluation by the authority.
MRA’s sustainability and planning branch manager Stella Brere encouraged the women to be committed to the SGP process and ensure that their enterprises are managed well once they receive the grants.
She highlighted the benefits of the project, saying if managed properly they could attract further assistance in future.
A happy Ampawi Maxwell of Nauti Women’s Group of Hidden Valley project in Bulolo District said her group plans to purchase a vehicle and operate a transport service between Lae and Nauti in Bulolo District.