Programme reaches out to those in need

THE Lae city authority (LCA), with the support of Australian consulate-general and the Morobe government, yesterday launched the “hand up” programme to assist people impacted by the Covid-19.
The launch saw the Lae and Morobe governments committing K100,000 each while the Australian government contributed K350,000 to start up the programme.
The programme is a partnership between LCA and the Australian consulate as part of the PNG-Australia partnership programme through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat).
It is supported by PNG-Australia governance partnership programme, Grow PNG, the Morobe government and various organisations such as Westpac PNG, Friends of the Garden City of Lae and the Lae Chamber of Commerce Inc.
The programme is designed in response to the coronavirus that has affected the livelihood of individuals who depend on formal employment and the informal economy and aims to assist people who are laid off from formal employment and those whose income generating activities from the informal sector have been restricted.
Australian Consul Paul Murphy said the programme reflected the best of PNG – the willingness of people to lend a hand to those in need and the willingness of people to work together to enhance their communities.
“It is a hand up, not a hand out,” Murphy said.
“In other places, such programmes have been called ‘work for the dole’. For the programme to succeed, we need community organisations wanting to enhance greater Lae to provide social benefit to come forward to deliver their dreams through the use of community workers receiving a hand up.”