East New Britain (ENB) Province has a gold mine of war relics and history; it is a province whose tourism potential is untapped, says the Vice Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Kessy Sawang. Vice Minister Sawang made this comment during her recent visit to the province on Sunday with the Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru and the Japan Development Institute (JDI) Expert team. Vice Minister Sawang also shared her experience of her recent visit to the war museums in the United States of America (USA) which are a huge tourist attraction.
“In those war museums (in the USA), there were pieces of war relics like a wheel of a vehicle, a wing of a plane or a boot preserved there with all their information and stories digitalized. So, when you walk in, the history is there, already digitalized and you decide whether to watch the videos or read about them. East New Britain has a gold mine of war relics because it does not have part of a war plane; it has the whole plane. We have to preserve our war relics in a museum, and though we are a storytelling society, we now have to start digitalizing these stories about the war relics that we have,” said Vice Minister Sawang.
“It is obvious that ENB is set to something greater in the future, and it will need political will and support,” she added.
Minister Maru also added that ENB was one of the provinces in the country with the highest potential, especially in tourism.
“East New Britain has hospitable people, fertile land, rich culture and all the war relics. It has the war relics, the Japanese barges and caves, volcano, hot spring and the package is much better than those that are offered in any other tourism destinations, but why have we not reached our potential? It comes down to leadership, vision, unity between the National and Provincial Government to work together with a target to come up a vehicle to unleash ENB’s potential,” said Minister Maru.
“We cannot live in the past; let’s see what the rest of the world has done, get the ideas from them and let’s make it happen for ourselves. In 5 to 10 years, we can develop our infrastructures and facilities. The ENB Provincial Government and all MPs must work together with the National Government to come up with a plan and look at how we can build the tourism potential of this province. This means there should be a wharf just for cruise ships, the road must be upgraded to world standard, we must have the hotels and all the facilities like a convention centre, and the airport at Tokua must be redeveloped to world class so we can have direct flights from Japan and other countries. We need to have a package; that is what has been missing and need to develop it now,” Minister Maru said.
“I will be reaching out to Tourism Promotion Authority and the National Cultural Commission to put together a plan on how we can digitalize all our history, especially our war history. I will also discuss with them on how we can preserve our history as there is currently no preservation work done on the Japanese barges and the bunkers, and all other war relics that we have,” Minister Maru said.
Minister Maru added that ENB and Japan should have a very close relationship but it does not exist.
“Every Japanese know Rabaul but they are not coming here. There are millions of Japanese tourists leaving Japan every year and none of them come here. We should create a little Japan here. I want to make sure that by the end of next year, there should a province in Japan that would be a sister province to ENB, and there will be a city in Japan that will be a sister city to Kokopo and Rabaul,” said Minister Maru.
East New Britain was identified by the government as one of the 18 potential Special Economic Zone (SEZ) locations, specifically a tourism SEZ, hence the visit by the JDI Experts on Sunday.
“I want to see two SEZs in East New Britain Province- one in Tokua and Kokopo, and another one in Rabaul. The package for Rabaul will be different from Tokua and Kokopo because of the volcano and that is the only way that we can reconstruct our town of Rabaul,” said Minister Maru.
“There is also a possibility of establishing hotel facilities at the old airport in Rabaul, especially to offer natural hot spring baths which is a major tourism attraction in Japan where they have hundreds of such facilities. JDI is willing to assist the East New Britain Provincial Government and the State to develop such facilities in Rabaul. It will be a major attraction for international tourists and also local tourists who would like to receive healing from the use of natural steam baths,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru encouraged the ENB Provincial Government to hold discussions with the landowners of Matupit to find a way forward to establish a 50megawatt energy project in Mt. Tavurvur.
“East New Britain has the raw potential, it always had. If there was a time in ENB history where it was exciting, this is the time,” Minister Maru said.
Meanwhile, the JDI CEO and Chairman, Dr. Shoichi Kobayashi, after visiting the tourism sites in Rabaul and Kokopo said that there was so much opportunity in East New Britain Province.
“I see that there is a possibility for tourism SEZ here; there is a great opportunity in ENB. We (JDI) have been involved in many tourism SEZ development in other countries, and from what I see, East New Britain Province can be a second Bali. Bali was developed from nothing to where it is now and I think this province can be developed too as a major tourism destination, with its war relics as an attraction for the tourists,” said Dr. Kobayashi.
