BULOLO district in the Morobe Province has a lot to offer and one such is the Small Scale Mining Training Centre at Wau.
This activity has now attracted interest from Goilala MP William Samb to send people from his electorate to attend courses offered by the institution.
This mutual relationship with Bulolo MP Sam Basil for both districts to work together in the name of bringing tangible development to its people.
Goilala MP Samb officially opened the 6th Bulolo District Show on Saturday and a few hours later was on the road to Wau to see for himself the training centre.
He was accompanied by members of his Goilala District Authority who used the opportunity to see other projects run in Basil’s district.
Samb said while both electorates share the same boundary, there was a lot to learn from the Bulolo district and one such was the alluvial mining and training his people was paramout.
He was given a tour around the training centre and was impressed by the set up adding he would not waste time now but to see the first batch of students to come start training next year.
The training facility wholly funded by Mineral Resources Authority was established seven years ago and is the only training centre in the Southern Hemisphere according to training coordinator Samuel Leonarhd.
Leonarhd said the centre offers courses equivalent to TVET in certificate in Small Scale Mining which includes basic background information on small scale mining, introduction to law governing SSM in PNG, introduction to geology, simple gold mining and processing techniques, environmental issues, occupational health and safety, mercury, economics of small scale mining, social issues in personality and gender issues, HIV/Aids.
He said the courses come in level one, two, three and four with also extension and outreach programs offered.
Leonarhd said the centre was established in 2009 and its aim was to empower small scale mining alleviate poverty, reduced unnecessary deaths, awareness on safety practices.