Photo credit: Rabaul town
The people of East New Britain Province may see the redevelopment of the once iconic Rabaul town if the current Moratorium is reviewed next year. Prime Minister James Marape said this when responding questions raised by Rabaul MP Graham Piniau in parliament recently.
Mr Piniau said the township of Rabaul still has a lot of potential to develop and bring in more revenue for his district and the province, but they cannot do much with the Moratorium that is in place on the redevelopment of Rabaul town.
When speaking in parliament MP Piniau said his Rabaul District that also houses the Rabaul town has been seeing a huge number of tourists visiting them and they are Keen to start redevelopment work but cannot do so due to the Moratorium.
"Rabaul town has a deteriorating road system that needs to be upgraded and lacks basic essential tourist amenities for that matter. The anticipated economic return is incredibly high and needs serious attention," Piniau said.
"Development plans for this town and sector underway but how long can we wait while Moratorium drive away national and Foreign investors away in this once iconic town," Piniau added.
Prime Minister James Marape when responding to these questions assured the MP Rabaul and his people and East New Britain as a whole, that a review will be carried out once they get a report on the volcanic activity in Rabaul.
"We will look at the conditions surrounding the Moratorium and it's uplifting. Our investigation will focus on what is currently happening in and around the volcanic area to determine the outcome. My government will make it our responsibility to assess and check what is happening on the ground within the balance of this year and I will be able to get a report to the people of Rabaul and this parliament so that we can restore back Rabaul town to what it was before.”
The Moratorium to stop the redevelopment of the once famous Rabaul town was issued after the twin volcanic eruption in September 1994.
