Thursday, March 15, 2012

Tembari works on preschool’s land title


Lands Secretary John Ofoi stresses a point to British expat Mauricio Diaz, sales and marketing manager of telco Global Technologies, who is Tembari school project manager. Secretary Ofoi is scrutinizing the documents that Tembari has presented to him towards acquiring a title to the 3,500 square meter property it occupies at Oro settlement, 7 Mile outside Port Moresby. The Secretary has assured Tembari that he will expedite the processing of its land title application so it could start building a preschool for its beneficiary children. – Photo by ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ, Port Moresby, PNG


By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ
A Friend of Tembari Children


AS they say, “we are getting there …”

And this makes Tembari upbeat on the big prospect that it is going to have a title soon to the land its preschool center occupies.

It was the so-called turn of events that we at Tembari had never expected.

In our very first audience with Department of Lands Secretary John Ofoi last week, he assured me and my colleague Mauricio Diaz, a British expat-executive at a big IT company in Port Moresby, that all we have to do is complete the land titling requirements – survey map, sketches, plans, building plans and all – give them to him. He’ll take care of the rest.

Secretary Ofoi said: I’m taking the short route to award Tembari a land title … I will avail of the so-called “Ministerial Exemption” route … through which I could allot you the property for titling and nobody could ever lay claim over it …”

He said the other process is for our land title application to undergo scrutiny and evaluation by a lands board made up of people from different discipline. Depending on the outcome of the board’s evaluation, a decision to deny or award the title would be made.

It is an exercise that could go the short route or take a long-winding road.

The good Secretary said he was impressed with what Tembari is doing for many settlement children whose future was bleak until they where ushered in to Tembari’s loving arms.

“I’m very particular with groups like Tembari and I want to help it …”, Sec Ofo said after scrutinizing our documents and learning of the center’s plan on that piece of 3,500-square meter lot at Oro settlement at 7 Mile, outside Port Moresby.

He became interested in the preschool classroom building we are to build on property, which we hope could begin sometime this July.

“Tembari will get it (the land title) … and it will enjoy its use of this land for 99 years,” Secretary Ofoi said.

The title to the property is the very first requisite that the Australian High Commission said Tembari has to fulfill before it could green light the start of the preschool building construction.

The Aussie High Comm is the lead donor-sponsor of the school building project. The other project supporters are Hardware Haus, AzkoNobel, Malaysian Association of PNG (MAPNG), Filipino Association of PNG (FAPNG), PNG Stones, PNG Concrete Aggregates, AP Engineering Ltd of East New Britain, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Eda Ranu and the Lands Department.

Worth K100,000, the preschool building will house four classrooms for use by about 100 children who are Tembari beneficiaries and other settlement children with parents who can afford to support them financially.

Since Tembari is the only government-accredited CBO (community-based organization) at the settlement operating a preschool, it is mandated to accommodate preschool children from the community to get an early education together with Tembari children, who are abandoned, neglected and orphans.

But it is not only the 100 preschool kids that get the benefit of various services from the Tembari facility.

It is actually looking after about 200 unfortunate settlement children by providing them meals twice a day, from Monday to Saturday, sending 78 of them to elementary and primary school in Port Moresby, offering them other opportunities to learn like watching educational DVDs and kiddie movies, and cultural development programs such as involving them in cultural dances and song presentation and sport activities such as volleyball, football and rugby.

And most of all, the kids are given the tender, loving care that they are missing owing to the absence of their parents and most important, a home away from home.

The daily feeding activities are being made possible by sustained donations from RD Foundation, SVS Mart, High Energy Co, Pure Water Company, Pacific Industries Ltd, Malaysian Association in PNG (MAPNG), Hugo Canning, Filipino Association in PNG (FAPNG) and Homeguard Construction Ltd. There are individual donors whose foodstuff donation make the bulk of the monthly supplies but wished not to be unidentified.

The acquisition of a land title to Tembari’s premises is only the start of many things that would enhance the welfare and development of our beneficiary children.

So to Lands Secretary John Ofoi: Sir, I salute you for this gesture to help us provide a better life to our unfortunate beneficiary children.

The land title that you are going to award to Tembari will be the key to everything great, as far as our beneficiary children are concerned.

May your tribe increase.



1 comment:

  1. It's true,most of the kids are given the tender, loving care that they are missing owing to the absence of their parents and most important, a home away from home.


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