Sir J focuses on people’s benefit

NEW Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan has reiterated that his government will continue to ensure that his people benefit from their land.
“We planted a seed and that seed was the Malagan Declaration,” he said during the 10th Council of Elders gathering last week,” Sir Julius said.
“Surrounded by the Maimai, Kabisit, Komgois, Nguts, Watongs, Kamnavol, Kandaru, Toye, Vau and the Passingans, I feel that I am home.
“The Malagan Declaration said that all the people of New Ireland had a right to eat the fruits of our land.
“We made certain the tree of development is connected to you.
“We knew New Ireland was rich, but our wealth was being stolen. So, the first thing my government did was to return the wealth of the ground to the people. How did we do that? Well, the national government promised to pay us benefits under the Lihir and Simberi MoAs (memorandum of agreement). But they failed to pay us. So, my government took the national government to court and forced them to pay what they owed us under the MoAs.And we forced them to keep paying us the money we were due every year since then,” Sir Julius said.
He said the money was used in various initiatives to help the people.