Nimamar Rural LLG praised for authority

The Nimamar Rural local-level government area in Lihir, New Ireland, has been commended for taking steps to revive its special purposes authority (SPA) which is expected to help deliver services.
Geralyal Mogia, director of Corporate Service Division with the Department of Provincial Local Government Affairs (DPLGA), made the commendation during the closing of a workshop in Kokopo on Friday.
He admitted that there were many conflicts with SPAs nationwide which were being addressed by the Government.
“For the Nimamar Rural LLG area to come up with steps involving key departments such as the Mineral Resources Authority, Treasury, DPLGA is a great initiative,” Mogia said.
He said the initiative shown by Nimamar LLG president and deputy governor Ambrose Silul, and the staff of Nimamar was a sign of cooperation. Mogia said the structural framework for the SPA was in place and more work would be done to finalise it.
He said if all went well, the SPA could be the nationwide model.
“It does not mean that SPA will work separately from LLG,” Mogia said.
“It must assist the LLG and those in affected areas.”
Ben Misren, the SPA board chairman, said a lot of effort and commitment was shown by the Nimamar staff to revive the authority.
Misren said this was something that would not be done on an ad-hoc basis but rather full-time until the process was complete.
He said he believed that with contributions from DPLGA and other departments, the process would be completed.
“The only way to roll out projects on Lihir is to have an SPA in place,” Misren said.