Pomio people told to manage their land

By ROSELYN ELLISON
THE people of Central-Pomio in East New Britain have been encouraged to work together and better manage their land to benefit the entire community.
Acting administrator for Pomio John Liskia said this during the follow-up roadshow on the National Sustainable Land Use Policy (NSLUP) 2022 to 2032 for the district held at the Palmalmal government station recently.
The roadshow was coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Department of Lands and Physical Planning.
Liskia said the NSLUP roadshow was done following a request from the two districts involved in the UNDP and PNG Government facilitated Global Environment Funds (GEF 7) Food Land Use and Restoration (FOLUR) project currently underway on the New Britain island.
Liskia said the two districts in ENB were Pomio and Gazelle, which hosted the two targeted LLGs due to their forest cover and cash crop activities in oil palm and cocoa.
Liskia urged the people of Central-Pomio LLG to adapt to the NSLUP that had been captured by the GEF7 FOLUR project rolled out into five wards.
He said NSLUP was formulated to address some land issues in the country and therefore commended the Government through the DLPP and UNDP for facilitating and rolling out this policy.
“This policy is here to help us understand the best way of planning how we use our land, so to avoid issues when we want to develop our communities, therefore it is important for us to understand it and go forward with it,” said Liskia.
“Too much talk about land and there is no development, look at other provinces like East Sepik where people are benefiting from their cocoa blocks now, with the current high prices, we have a huge landmass that if we manage properly and through this policy, we can be the most improved district in the country in terms of development,” Liskia said.