Olga and WHP delegation visit Orange City in western NSW

By ELIAS LARI
A WESTERN Highlands provincial government delegation of 26 members of the provincial assembly and support staff has returned from Orange City, in western New South Wales, Australia.
The local delegation visited there from Feb 15-26.
Governor Tom Olga initiated the trip to let his councillors, all of whom are presidents of LLGs, see how city councils were being run in a developed country.
He said the trip was an eye opener for all the presidents.
They saw for themselves how council wards were developed into towns and cities.
While in Orange city, the presidents, including a lone women’s representative, were met by Orange city mayor John Davis, councillor Chris Gryllis and senior staff of City’s council.
The delegation was well looked after by the council and taken to all the major sites, including parks and zoos in Orange during the week-long stay.
They witnessed a rugby league match between the Mt Hagen Kui Raiders against the Orange Aboriginal All Stars and Orange Barbarians.
The Kui Raiders, which won the Western Highlands Governor’s Cup competition, were on a trip to Orange in the same week. Their trip was sponsored by the provincial government.
Orange city mayor John Davis said a team from Orange would travel to Mt Hagen next year.
“If all is well and we are able to secure sponsors for a trip, we would be happy to send a team to Mt Hagen next year,” Davis said.
He said a sister-city relationship between Mt Hagen and Orange had existed for 34 years and no better interaction had taken place until this trip.
“We should maintain this relationship we have and keep it going for the generations to come,” he said.
Olga said he was impressed with the reception and the hospitality provided by the Orange City Council.
 “We would love to maintain this relationship for as long as we can and learn from each other to promote and develop our culture and people,” he said.
He said critics from Mt Hagen may see such a trip as a waste of public funds but the outcome of such a trip was “so huge and can have great impact in the respective communities”.
 “Those who were on this trip and their families should speak for themselves if the trip was a waste of time and resources.
“I believe we have a long way to go and it is appropriate to have outside exposure, especially to developed countries and learn from them,” he said.
Olga made an undertaking that as long as he was governor of the province such trips would continue and exchange programmes would exist, including rugby league competitions between the two cities.
PNG High Commissioner to Australia Charles Lepani took time out to travel to Orange from Canberra to meet with the delegation and watched the match between the Kui Raiders and the Orange Aboriginal All Stars.
ENDS……