Push for Milne Bay

 PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has pitched for the development of Milne Bay as a new tourist destination in Papua New Guinea.

“Milne Bay has a lot of potential to become a tourist-driven province and I urge you to make use of this opportunity,” he said during the closing Kenu and Kundu festival in Alotau on Monday.

O’Neill said: “With more arrivals of tourist vessels like Pacific Dawn that sailed in this morning with more than 2,000 tourists, you have the opportunity to exhibit your culture by selling your arts and crafts to them.”

He reiterated the Government’s support for the exhibition of culture and tourism in PNG and planned to allocate more funds to Milne Bay’s Kenu and Kundu festival in years to come.

O’Neill applauded the provincial government and its parliamentary leaders for their initiative to focus on tourism as a revenue earner.

After officiating at the closing of 2013 Kenu and Kundu festival, O’Neill toured the Pacific Dawn and officially opened the informal sector market, which was built to cater for street vendors in the Sanderson Bay area.

“This will empower you to embark on small-to-medium enterprises to sustain yourselves,” he told the vendors.

The market will be run entirely by a women’s group.

O’Neill said this was a great opportunity to enhance and empower the women of Milne Bay, who would gradually venture into small-to-medium businesses.

“This is a good time for us, given the increase in the number of tourists visiting our country every year,” he said.

“We cannot sit around and let these opportunities go by without grabbing them. We must make use of them.

“The Government will not give anyone money hand-outs to start your business. It will only provide avenues like this market.”

O’Neill went to the Trobriand Islands on Tuesday to launch the Kiriwina-Goodenough five-year development plan and to open a new jetty at the Kaibola government station.