Northern’s tourism affected by Covid: Juffa

NORTHERN Governor Garry Juffa says the Coronavirus (Covid-19) has impacted the province’s tourism economy specifically along the Kokoda trail.
“The Covid-19 had a significant impact on our small economy given that Oro relies on tourism revenues brought in by the Kokoda trail and Tufi (area),” Juffa said.
“That has impacted on those particular areas.
“Kokoda especially has felt the brunt of this then other areas in the province.
“We used to see about 5,000 to 6,000 tourist a year and that generated some income for the people living along the Kokoda trail.
“They had to dig deep and we had to find some ways to assist them as a result of the Covid situation.
“The other issue that we found is that it had exposed our lack of progress in as far as technology is concerned.
“Now we have zoom calls and rely on internet and others, and unfortunately that has been exposed as a problem in Oro and I would imagine the other provinces.
“It’s also highlighted the frustrations we feel in the provinces with line agencies in Port Moresby at Waigani.
“I’m glad the Government are keen on decentralise as much of these functions and allow the provinces to have a greater say on what happens in their province especially in regards to revenues and revenue generating activities.”
Juffa made the remarks during the second EU-PNG business, trade and investment conference yesterday.
He said the provinces had had significant issues with line agencies such as the departments of Finance and Treasury.