Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Isi Henry Leonard presented K50, 000 to tourism groups and churches in Enga province.
He presented this during the grand opening of the Leemanda Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church on Thursday this week.
Minister Leonard was accompanied by the Executive Director of the National Cultural Commission (NCC) Mr Steven Kilanda and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tourism Promoting Authority (TPA) Mr Erick Mossman Uvovo.
The Samarai Murua Open MP of Milne Bay Province openly acknowledged the magnificent scenery of the environment where the newly built church was built and in a kind gesture appreciated the work of the local community to promote tourism in this area.
In his keynote address, Minister Leonard paid tribute to the work of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in the province saying the work of the gospel commission was everybody’s business as Papua New Guinea is a Christian country.
Minister Leonard presented a total of K25,000 to the local SDA churches comprising of the Amala SDA Church, Wabag Town SDA Church and Lenki SDA Church with K5,000 each, while the host church of the Sangurap SDA Church received K10,000.
Minister Leonard presented another K25,000 to the local Leemanda community to support their tourism, arts and cultural project that was recently established in the area.
History was created in this part of the province when a state minister set foot along with his two chief executive officers respectively.
The Leemanda SDA Church is a branch church of the main Sangurap SDA Church located a kilometer away from the provincial capital of Wabag Town.
