By Bradley Mariori
The Australian Government, through the Australian High Commission, has supported locals from Salamaua and Morobe LLGs in Morobe Province to light up their homes through the Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF).
Through KTF’s lighting program, “Light for Learning,” around 500 households in Salamaua and Morobe LLGs have been lit up.
During a small ceremony yesterday at Buakap Village in Salamaua, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Religion Jason Peter and Minister Counsellor (Economics, Health and Infrastructure) at the Australian High Commission, Dr. Kate Rogers, officially launched the lighting for the households, including the opening of the Light For Learning solar hub.
Minister Peter thanked the Australian government for empowering the community through KTF and said his dream is for every family to have good housing, lighting, and access to clean water.
He added that the Australian Government invests a significant amount of money every year to support the people of PNG, and supporting locals in Salamaua aligns with Australia’s long history with the area dating back to the Second World War.
Dr. Kate Rogers said KTF initiated the project under Australia, which is changing people’s lives. Over 800 homes are powered, serving more than 27,000 people in Huon Gulf.
She said they will ensure people have access to cleaner energy and improve access to education.
Salamaua LLG Manager Cliff Wembiong thanked Australian taxpayers for the funding and KTF for leading the project, which will positively impact people’s lives.
According to KTF, key achievements of their lighting program include 17,229 household units installed, 461 facility units installed, 190 villages lit, and 1,030 solar champions trained.
The program has led to increased study time, with students spending more time studying at night the average homework time has risen from 8 minutes to 103.1 minutes.
