New Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan has wished the people of New Ireland and Papua New Guinea a Happy 46th Independence Anniversary.
In his Independence address to the people, he urged Papua New Guineans to work together and make PNG great as it has the potential to be.
He said to achieve this, power must be given to provinces with resources.
“We have been too patient. Things must change. That is why I have been talking so often lately about autonomy. Not because we want to break away from Papua New Guinea. No. To the contrary. Increased power for the provinces and the lower levels of Government.”
He said New Ireland has shown what Autonomy can do, adding that even though the province had to struggle with few resources, the province has blazed the path for development among other provinces.
“New Ireland was the first province in PNG with Free Education, Old Age and Disabled Pensions, Roof Over Heads and many more programmes that have made our people the most fortunate in all of Papua New Guinea.
“We recently completed a state-of-the-art Legislative Assembly building. By the end of this year all 10 LLGs will have modern Council Chambers which will give back respect and dignity to our presidents and ward councillors, except Namatanai Council”, added Sir Julius.
He was speaking during the Independence Anniversary celebrations at the newly opened stadium in Kavieng town.