Promote city as tourism capital

CHRISTMAS lights, Carol’s by the Candle Lights, street lights and fireworks lighten up Christmas and New Year to add to the glamour of Port Moresby.
These are some of the things city residents and visitors enjoy during the festive season and look forward to each year.
But then, there is more to just the city lights and amusement.
Most often, we take for granted the amenities and improved services that transformed Port Moresby and National Capital District from what it used be.
Longtime city residents will perhaps recall the ups and downs of our nation’s capital, including those care-free days where one, without any second thought, could freely busk all day in the clean white sandy banks of Ela Beach or bar crawl from Koki to Badili and the notoriety of crime and lawlessness that besieged a city.
It was not until 2007 when Powes Parkop was elected governor to see discipline, control, planning and prudent management starting with plugging the holes and repairing the fund mismanagement.
In the heavily contested National Capital District governor’s seat Parkop, a longtime Gerehu resident and a law lecturer who would go his way to provide pro bono or free legal assistance to those who couldn’t afford counsel and human rights champion, won on popular vote.
With so much money involved and big league players in the race, Parkop’s campaign was simple.
His was: “I have no million kina but I have a million ideas to take back the city.’
In no time, the city levelled according to his will starting with road and infrastructure.
The results of his initiative with of course, additional support from the Government and development partners are the new freeways, loop roads and ring roads connecting the city and the overhead bridge.
While law and order still remains a challenge, the governor is keen not to just improve law and order, but also to change the perception of security within the National Capital District.
The changes undertaken since 2007 is enough to convince the PNG Tourism Promotion Agency to promote the capital as a tourism destination.

David Lepi