Soldiers welcomed after assisting Aussie’s bushfire relief

By LARRY ANDREW
A GROUP of 76 soldiers from the PNG Defence Force’s Engineer Battalion were welcomed back from assisting in Australian bushfire relief efforts on Friday.
The troops were treated to a barbeque at Igam Barracks in Lae.
The group including two female officers were part of the 100 troops engaged by the Government to assist in the bush fire relief efforts.
Joining the troops in the welcome were Chief of Logistics Col Benoma Siria and Director Engineer Lt Col John Giregire from PNGDF headquarters.
The soldiers were presented certificates of appreciation.
Col Siria told The National that it was a valuable exposure and experience to be in that type of environment in Australia.
He said PNG soldiers did some tasks without following safety protocols but got the job done.
It was these instances that enabled PNG and Australian personnel to learn from each other.
“There are skills they have, there are also skills that we have, so as much as we can, we also want to learn from them and I’m pretty sure they also want to learn from us.
“But most importantly the troops represented the country and were good ambassadors, put up a good performance and contributed a lot, there were risks but they overcame them and that was because of our cultural approach and attitude to such situations like that,” Siria said.
Giregire commended the troops for their performance and conduct while on duty in bushfire affected areas of Australia.
He said it was the first time PNG had sent troops to help Australia and they should be proud of their contribution. Australian Defence staff Defence Cooperation Programme-PNG Capt Jack Lush acknowledge the efforts of the PNGDF Kumul 17 Force in the bushfire relief efforts. “The efforts you men and women put out in the last two months in Australia had an impact in the community.”