A man form Lufa in the Eastern Highlands Province who has been living in the New Ireland Province for the last 29 years has been repatriated back to his home Province.
Simon Jonimp (Pictured) and others from the Seven Provinces of the Highlands including Madang have come to Lae on a ship charted by the Provincial Government.
Simon was just a lad when he moved to New Ireland Province to work on plantations, twenty-nine years ago.
“We thought of coming back home so we got on this ship provided,” he said.
Simon says he has never been married for over 20 years. He has been alone most of time in New Ireland and now only wants to go home to Lufa.
Mark Alop from Nipa in the Southern Highlands Province worked for the New Britain Palm Oil Company until quite recently.
He is now moving back to his province with his wife from East New Britain and his four children.
“I am traveling with five families from Kavieng to our village… I have respect for the New Ireland Provincial government for helping us see our home Province,” he said.
The New Ireland Provincial Government had sought alternatives to trim down law and order problems in the Province.
One solution was to help the unemployed population from other provinces of Papua New Guinea get back to their home provinces’.
But, there are still challengers to get younger people on the ship because they see New Ireland as their home, as most of them were born there.
The operation cost about K180, 000. The second lot of people going to the Sepik and Manus will come later next month.
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