ORANGE City Council’s 30-year involvement lending a helping hand to Papua New Guinean sister city Mount Hagen is a way of making Australia’s federal government promises a practical reality for the city, according to PNG consul-general Sumasy Singin.
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The newly appointed consul-general described Orange as clean, organised and structural during his visit on Thursday, and said the co-operation between every tier of government was something PNG could learn from.
“We need to build people-to-people relationships and council relationships like this,” he said.
“The challenges are to build the capacity of the [Mount Hagen] council itself and focus the objective of what the council can achieve within the two different levels of government we have.”
Mr Singin said with help from Orange council, Mount Hagen was improving its town planning and public utilities.
The federal government’s AusAID agency funds most of the work Orange council does in Mount Hagen.
Recently, the Abbott government slashed $4.5 billion from the foreign aid budget and combined the agency with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Mr Singin said the cuts to AusAID would make it harder for Orange council to continue work in Mount Hagen, but the council still had a vital role in telling the Australian federal government what was needed as AusAID and DFAT combine.
“What we find in Canberra is that people have not been on the ground and they don’t see the reality,” he said.
“The circumstances are quite different in terms of social services and networking between the two nations.”
Sister Cities committee chair Chris Gryllis said there were ongoing challenges for Mount Hagen in trying to “amalgamate the old world with the new world” but he believed progress had been made.
“PNG has 800 different languages, that in itself is big challenge to overcome,” he said.
“Now you see professional people and business people that are equal to any western personnel.”
Cr Gryllis was confident cuts to AusAID would not affect the work Orange council did in Mount Hagen.
“We can achieve much more from person-to-person relationships and understanding each other than throwing money to someone,” he said.
Cr Gryllis said he was negotiating with an Orange company who had offered to help Mount Hagen council improve its rate collection system, proof that things can be done without spending a lot of money.
clare.colley@fairfaxmedia.com.au
