Everyday People: Francis Moro

A 34-year-old registered civil engineer from East New Britain has taken on the risk of setting up a micro Small to Medium Enterprise (MSME).

The SME has been engaging unemployed youths from around the province on various trades projects.

Francis Moro, owner of Daveline (Dave – line) Engineers, hails from Morobe Province and Raluan No. 1 in the Rabaul District. He says it is fulfilling to see youths having a source of income and gaining knowledge at the workplace.

Moro is the President of the East New Britain Engineers Association, which apart from other programs, also runs a school visitation program to encourage students to pursue careers in engineering and other technical fields.

He was also one of the first nationals to register with the Competency-Based Assessment System for the PNG Institute of Engineers.

After completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 2012 from the PNG University of Technology, Moro was recruited under the Ok Tedi Mining’s graduate development program.

He was there until 2015 when there was a vacancy for a town engineer for Kokopo Town and he returned to the province to work with the urban LLG.

Moro stayed there until 2019, where through his experience and expertise, he was engaged with the then Gazelle Restoration Authority, where he spent a year before deciding to resign from public service.

He says what prompted him to set up his micro SME, was compounded by factors like lack of employment opportunities for his own siblings, including his wife, and the need to create alternative revenue sources for his family, apart from an eagerness to help address the growing unemployment rate in the province.

Registered in 2020, Moro says the first project awarded to his company was by the Kokopo Vunamami Urban LLG in 2021, where he initially employed six youths.

It was in late 2021 where Daveline Engineers got their biggest project in Rabaul to do fencing for the PNG Ports Services.

The company is currently engaged by the National Works Department to do civil works on drainage along the roads at the Takubar industrial area in Kokopo city.

He says civil engineering comprises of two sectors; one is consultancy, while the other is construction work, which he says, is more beneficial because of the need to engage youths to work on the projects.

His motto is that his company will engage anyone who is willing to work, whether or not they have a training certificate or work experience.

He says he took a big risk to resign and start up his own business, and had sacrificed a lot to ensure his micro SME gets off the ground, and he is still facing challenges today, with the country’s tough economic situation.

Furthermore, Moro is urging professionals to use their skills and knowledge to create an alternative revenue source for their family, which in turn should help create employment opportunities for the many unemployed youths in the community.

Moro then made a call to candidates in East New Britain Province, as PNG is currently into the 2022 National General Elections, to consider employment opportunities as their policy platforms, and further urged voters to choose leaders who have job creation as part of their policies.

He says the unemployment rate is still on a high in PNG, and this is contributing to a lot of social disorder and law and order problems in the province and country as a whole.

Author: 
Loop Author