Tammur backs cultural shows, calls for support

TOURISM Arts and Culture Minister Emil Tammur is urging business houses and corporate entities to support cultural festivals around the country.
Tammur said cultural festivals were becoming hard to deliver every year due to increasing cost of hosting such events and the private sector would do well to support the government promote and maintain cultural heritage, especially in these tough economic times.
He made the call while presenting K50,000 to the Sepik River Crocodile Festival organising committee chairman Alois Mateos in Port Moresby yesterday.
The sponsorship was made possible by the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority through the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture.
“Many of our cultural festivals around the country are struggling to source funding to be staged and any support from the private sector would be greatly appreciated, especially when funding from the government is hard to come by,” Tammur said.
He also accepted an invitation by Mateos and his organising committee for the Minister and PNGTPA chief executive officer Jerry Agus to attend the Sepik River Crocodile Festival in Ambunti, East Sepik, in two months’ time.
Mateos said this would be the 11th year for the festival and international tourist numbers were increasing each year, particularly tourists from Europe and Israel.
“We had more than 20 from Israel last year which was the biggest group from one country,” he said.
Mateos, who is also the president of PNG Tourism Industry Association, thanked the Ministry of the Tourism Arts and Culture and PNGTPA, saying the national tourism office also provided funding in 2017 for which his organising committee was grateful.