Stakeholders of the Fisheries Workshop at the Cassowary Hotel
Aibinio village is one of 14 villages which form the Kiwai Islands, situated along the north banks of the Fly River delta, in the South Fly District, Western Province.
President for Kiwaba Women & Children’s Association Pahe David presented her 50 years Vision themed ‘Striving Daudai’, with the drawing of two islands in parallel to each other.
“Aibinio has no resources but the island next to it has, and its resources have been our life source, it has provided crabs, fish, shells, mangroves, and coconut palms for building our houses.”
“I want solar lights in the centre of the village. Our bush material houses have brought us through and we are now building houses with roofing iron. My people utilise nature and its resources to survive. I want to change this, I want to see the wealth that marine resources generate, and bring development to the village of Aibinio. I want to have a school for my children to attend in the village not leave and find primary education somewhere else .”
Mrs, David’s 50 years vision is a result of a fisheries project, which started with a survey facilitated by Ok Tedi Development Foundation (OTDF) in Partnership with the Commonwealth Science and Research Organisation (CSIRO) and was funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
The basis of the survey is to develop alternative small-scale fishery models for women in the Western Province.
Mrs. David presented her vision to participants during the fisheries multi-stakeholder workshop hosted by the OTDF on 14th April in Kiunga. As a lead-up to the stakeholder workshop community consultation workshops were conducted by the OTDF livelihood development team in Kaviananga village of Middle Fly and also in the South Fly.
The Fisheries Workshop provided the forum to collate ideas, which could be useful to design appropriate linked business and resource management models for women that would maximize income returns, and encourage sustainable fishing and enterprises.
Organisations attending the workshop in Kiunga included the Ok Tedi CMCA women executives, INLOC Group (Aquaculture and Fisheries Specialists), OTML_Environment Department, South Fly District Fisheries, Middle Fly District Fisheries and Trustees from the two Ok Tedi CMCA Trust regions.