ISEZ local team Engaged in Project Update Workshop

Ihu Special Economic Zone management office dedicated a week for the Community Liaison Officers (CLOs), Village Ward Councillors and SME representatives from Kikori district to educate and update them on the current progress and also future goals of the project.

Team leaders from the different departments had few hours each running workshops with them throughout the week.

The workshops included all components of ISEZ project, which are, Land Partnerships, SME Programs, Technical Infrastructure, Administration, ICT, the overall project itself and its current status.

There were a lot of detailed information unfolded in the workshops, moreover, the overall objectives for the bigger picture were explained to the CLOs and ward councillors to disseminate to the people in the village were expressed by the team leaders.

Land Partnership team leader Tony Auvita highlighted key points such as, the importance of identifying land to use and also not to use, which land belong to who so there is no dispute goi ng forward, the importance of people freeing their land in order for development to come in, registering land so it’ll be converted to state land so it can be developed and basically informing them on a key point that ISEZ want the people to understand is that the project is not trying to have access to the land for their own interests, ISEZ will work with the responsible land owners to develop their land.

By practicing some of the things mentioned above, especially freeing up land to put to good use, landowners can look into doing SMEs or MSMEs, which some has done already after ISEZ SME awareness were carried out in 2022 in different villages across Kikori district. However, to add to that, in the workshop, SME team leader Michael O’Kave further explained, updated and provided information to the CLOs, ward councillors and SME reps to go back to the village and remind and motivate landowners to continue and also for others to think about starting small businesses.

Mr. O’Kave touched on Gulf province having abundance of resources such as coconut, cocoa, timber and the marine life (to name a few) that can create opportunities for big companies to come in and invest if all are managed well and the market is there. Also most importantly, what the people in the village should understand and to grasp on, is that it will create job opportunities for them.

However, all these cannot eventuate to its full potential if proper infrastructure is not in place, which the technical manager Donald Tsirumits further explained on in his workshop.

Mr. Tsirumits basically touched on 4 main points in his workshop. Firstly, the Critical Capital Infrastructure Programs (CCIP), which is the dream stage. Basically, what infrastructure needs to be built in order to secure the SEZ licence. Infrastructure such as, the re- development of the airstrip in Ihu, Jetties & Deep-Water International Port, Ihu Rural Water Supply, Electrification, ISEZ ISEZ PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OFFICE Section 54, Lot 2, Ago Street, Gordons Unit 1, Level 1, Ago Commercial Building PO Box 1724, Waigani, NCD Papua New Guinea IHU SPEACIAL ECONOMIC ZONE (ISEZ) Telecommunication, Ring Road Development and Township Development.

Secondly, some advanced projects such as Petrochemical projects and Downstream Processing activities were mentioned as well, that’s when all CCIPs are in place, then those two projects can also be developed.

Third point Mr.Tsirumits touched on is basically on the current focus of the project, which is to build a camp site at Aivei (Pig Island), for ISEZ officers to be on ground and work closely with the local. Lastly, is the look ahead, what need to be done in the next 6 months or whole of 2025, is to continue to work with responsible authorities to complete the Ihu – Muro Road Construction (21km) and also various roads (National/Provincial/District). Also continue to engage with companies and sign contracts to do pre-feasibility and feasibility studies on Vailala Hydropower, Energy Options and Aivei Port Site. All these projects are crucial to having a viable basis for construction to commence.

The basic knowledge to understand from this is that nothing is possible if there is no infrastructure in place. Infrastructure will bring in service, attract foreign direct investments (FDI) and basically provide opportunities for the people in the village.

CLOs and Ward councillors were provided with all this basic knowledge to go back to the village and educate and make people aware that good things will happen if they are willing to cooperate with ISEZ so development can happen in their district.

Furthermore, other general information to understand and take into consideration were provided by Administration Manager and ICT as well.

Admin manager basically spoke to them about the current organizational structure, what process and steps to go through to report something to the office, how to fit in and understand their job descriptions and perform accordingly to their role, some important skills they must have or develop in order to engage well with the people in the village, and the benefits they will have if they continue to perform well in the tasks given to them.

Also, a SWOT Analysis were presented to them as well so they understand to either maintain, improve, be aware of or take advantage of and also anticipate the things that will happen on either the top or bottom level in terms of the people involved, the different perspectives the people have on this project, the support given to the project by stakeholders and so on. Some of these things could be either positive or negative, but at least it is important for the CLOs, ward councillors and SME reps to be aware of.

Additionally, after all the informative sessions, the CLOs, Ward Councilors and SME reps went through a basic phone use workshop. After purchasing few smartphones for the new CLOs, ICT personnel explained to them on how they can utilize WhatsApp, such as, extracting chats, reporting captured images, send live locations, video calling, removing archive messages and exporting & uploading.

Other areas covered as well included data download and updating of apps or phone, the importance of google account, how to scan documents digitally and send, and basically educating them on the variety of uses they can explore on a smartphone in today’s time.

Other than the workshops, all CLOs got their IDs remade, new CLOs got their BSP accounts opened, did their medical checks and also gifts were given to them before they left to go back home.

Overall, it was a very informative week-long workshop for the CLOs, ward councillors and SME reps. ISEZ management will continue to run this workshop going forward to make sure that all the ground officers are kept up to date with ISEZ current status on what is happening, especially things involving the government, development partnerships, contractors and so on.