Kavieng in New Ireland province, in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is known for its exquisitely stunning white sandy beaches, pristine clear blue waters, clusters of spectacular tiny islands with uncrowded reefs and gigantic swells that attract surfers and holiday makers from all around the world.The province, despite being a tourism hotspot in PNG still remains unpopular not only to visitors from around the world but locally in PNG as well due to its geographical isolation to mainland PNG.
That is about to change with PNG Dataco landing the Kumul Submarine Cable Network (KSCN) in Kavieng today in a small but significant event.The cable will provide the much-needed information highway that will connect and expose Kavieng and the New Ireland Province to the rest of the world, thus boosting tourism and other relevant industries such as education, health, agribusiness and fisheries in the province and the country as a whole.Daniel Lavasut, a youth leader from Lavongai Local Level Government and Head Teacher, Level 3 Elementary School at Metemana Village, Lovongai Island, while thanking the national government and PNG Dataco and its partners said it is the first of its kind and a historical achievement for New Ireland Province.
“This is the first of its kind and historical in Kavieng. With this infrastructure, we can access remote areas like New Hanover. I am happy that this infrastructure will help us in schools to send and receive information like census forms to update our school data to the headquarters in Port Moresby in time and with less cost. In times like the current covid19 shutdown, people in the villages can use internet to get correct information”PNG Dataco General Manager Engineering Services, Mr. Tony Morisause while explaining the technical difficulties faced with the current VSAT Satellite System being placed at New Hanover, said that the landing of KSCN will cover the entire island and added that it is big investment for the province and that the people of New Ireland should be proud of and look after the infrastructure for the current and future generations.
“Once we land the cable in Kavieng, then the distribution through the retail service providers will go out to all the small islands and along the Buluminski Highway to Namatanai.He further added that PNG Dataco team will work with the New Ireland Provincial government to ensure that the province gets the full benefit of the infrastructure.