K500,000 for business purposes

 PEOPLE in Rabaul district have been allocated K500,000 by the joint district planning and budget priority committee to start businesses.

The fund will be divided among the four LLG wards: K100,000 for Watom, K100,000 for Kombiu, K100,000 for Rabaul Urban and K200,000 to Balanataman.

It will be managed by the Mataure Rabaul Micro-Finance Ltd (MRML). 

Those interested can lodge their business proposal applications with the business development officers at the four LLGs. The MRML will approve the loans.

The MRML also received K2 million from East New Britain regional member Leo Dion.

Governor Ereman ToBaining Jr also thanked the Rabaul district administration and budget priorities committee and the MRML board for providing loans to the people to lift their living standards by starting economic projects.

He said the bank since 2011 had also those in Gazelle, Pomio and Kokopo.

“Micro-Finance was institutionalised because a significant percentage of the population did not have the chance to access loans,” he said.

He said the prices of cocoa and copra were facing a slump in the province and this would be a way to make sure people in rural areas had access to capital to start businesses.

“The O’Neill-led government must be commended as the financial aspiration of the rural population has been fulfilled with the K2 million funding,” ToBaining said.