Stop giving for handouts, official says

 GIVING handouts to the people is a waste of time and money, an officer in the East New Britain provincial administration says.

Commerce and industry division adviser Henry Tavul made the remarks to public servants in Gazelle district during the provincial 2014 implementation consultative workshop last Tuesday.

“We will never be self-reliant if we continue to make pledges and give money to people – we will never grow the economy,” he said.

Tavul said this was one factor that the DPI, Fisheries and Tourism emphasised on.

“As managers and coordinators of the DSIP, this is something we need to be more serious about and give the right advice to people so that we drive the economy right.”

He said appropriate entrepreneurial skills must be enhanced for people to develop their own communities.

“Last year and this year, we were blessed with so much money yet we are getting so many complaints about where the money is going.

“We are supposed to be facilitating local ownership and yet many complain about the Chinese doing business in the province. They (Chinese) are banking on our ignorance because we are still relying on handouts,” Tavul said.