Trevor moving Oro forward

ORO provincial administrator Trevor Magei is the first to be groomed and raised in Northern.
Magei had never worked for any other organisations other than the Oro provincial administration.
He joined the public service on July 12, 1994. On Nov 23, 2020 he was selected as the provincial administrator.
He was only 20 when he entered the public service. Now at 45, he is one of the youngest to become a provincial administrator.
His late father Thomas Magei was from Hangan village, Buka in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

“ I hope to shine a light in the lives of others”

His mother Gwen Suja is from Barevaturu village in Northern.
Trevor is the eldest of three brothers and a sister. He also has five other brothers and sisters from his father’s second wife.
Dad Thomas was an agriculture and livestock officer while mum Gwen was working with the PNG Banking Corporation, later the Bank South Pacific.
Trevor and his siblings spent much part of their childhood in Jiwaka, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands and the National Capital District.
Trevor still looks up to his mum as his role model.
“My mum is my role model to this day.”
He completed Grade Six in 1988 at the Resurrection Primary School in Northern but could not continue into Grade Seven.
His father took him to a boarding school in Australia. He spent 1990 to 1994 at the Downlands College in Towoomba, South Queensland.
In 2000, he was selected to undertake a six-month youth development programme under Jica’s fellowship programme.
In 2010, he undertook a one-year diploma course in public administration. In 2014, he took up a certificate in project management course at the Kangan Institute of TAFE Colleges in Melbourne.
Between 2016 and 2017 he pursued a Bachelor in Public Administration degree at the Divine Word University and graduated in 2018. He is currently doing a Master’s in Business Administration degree at UPNG.
He became the coordinator of the provincial disaster centre where he interacted with people, worked on how to address their problems which were “far more complex than natural disasters”.
He was mentored by former administrator Sem Vegogo who in 2017 appointed him as one of his deputy provincial administrators.
Trevor witnessed one day how a sick person was carried on a makeshift stretcher by relatives from one of the remote villages in the outskirts of a patrol post that he managed.
He arranged for an ambulance but it was too late. When it arrived, the patient looked up at him from his makeshift bed, breathed his last breath and closed his eyes.
It was a devastating and heart-breaking moment for Trevor. It made him want to work harder for the people.
His five-year development plan (2018 to 2022) has already been approved. His proposed restructure of the provincial administration is ongoing. He has also secured K14 million for the Oro provincial administration office complex and more than K100 million for three main roads in the province.
Trevor is moving ahead with development projects.
The people of Oro are already seeing the benefits of his hard work.
“I have developed a habit of challenging myself to see how much further I can continue in my pathway for the highest in education or the best in my performance and perhaps shine a light in the lives of others.”

• Story and pictures by the Oro provincial administration media team.