Southern Highlands Province

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea
)
Southern Highlands Province
Sauten Hailans (
Tok Pisin
)
Saden Halens (Angal Dialect)
Southern Highlands Province
Districts
Government
 • GovernorSuspended since 16 June 2018
Area
 • Total15,089 km2 (5,826 sq mi)
Population
 (2011 census)
 • Total510,245
 • Density34/km2 (88/sq mi)
UTC+10 (AEST)
HDI (2018)0.479[1]
low · 21st of 22

Southern Highlands is a province in Papua New Guinea. Its provincial capital is the town of Mendi. According to Papua New Guinea's national 2011 census, the total population of Southern Highlands (after the separation of Hela Province) is 515,511 spread across 15,089 square kilometers (5,826 sq mi).

Ethnic groups

Southern Highlands has diversly more than 8 groups of people, the Kutubu Bosavi are partly of the Huli tribes and coastal, they speak Hela and the Foe Faso languages, the Erave Samberigi people also are of coastal or Papuan descent and speak their own, Poroma, Nipa and Plato speak the Nongo-Naiko dialect as of the Mendi people but in a twist of tongue, the people surrounding Mt Giluwe and Ialibu speak the Umbu-Ungu dialect while Pangia and Kagua people speak their two different languages. The Imboungu and parts of Ialibu people speak Kewabi languages. This shows that there are more than 8 major languages and 18-24 different tribes that live in SHP. Some tribes extends all the way to newly formed Hela province, Enga,Western Highlands Province, Gulf Province, Simbu Province and the Western Provinces.SHP is quite uniquely diverse in tribes and people of both coastal and Highlands descent living with their varying cultures and traditions passed down from generations to generations.

Split to create Hela Province

In July 2009, Parliament passed legislation to create two new provinces by 2012. One of these was to be created by removing the districts of Tari-Pori, Komo-Magarima, and Koroba-Kopiago from the Southern Highlands Province to form the new Hela Province.[2] Hela Province officially came into being on 17 May 2012.[3]

Regions

After the split of Hela, the province is divided into roughly three distinct geographic regions:

  1. The West: which includes the Southern Highlands districts of Nipa, Mendi, Lai Valley, Imbogu (lower Mendi), Hela District of Magarima, Kutubu and part of Kendep (Enga Province), and is the home of the speakers of dialects of the
    Anggal Heneng language
    .
  2. The East: which includes the districts of Kagua,
    Imbongu, Kewa, and Wiru languages, and home to the second highest mountain in Papua New Guinea, Mount Giluwe
    .
  3. The Lowlands: which stretch across the southern part of the Southern Highlands province from the volcanic peaks of Mount Bosavi to include the oilfields of Lake Kutubu, and includes the language groups of Biami (shared with Western Province) Foe, and Fasu.

Districts and LLGs

There are five

districts in the province. Each district has one or more Local Level Government (LLG) areas. For census purposes, the LLG areas are subdivided into wards and those into census units.[4][5][6]

District District Capital LLG Name
Ialibu-Pangia District Ialibu East Pangia Rural
Ialibu Urban
Kewabi Rural
Wiru Rural
Imbonggu District Imbonggu Ialibu Basin Rural
Imbonggu Rural
Lower Mendi Rural
Kagua-Erave District
Kagua
Erave Rural
Kagua Rural
Kuare Rural
Aiya Rural
Mendi-Munihu District Mendi Karints Rural
Lai Valley Rural
Mendi Urban
Upper Mendi Rural
Nipa-Kutubu District Nipa Lake Kutubu Rural
Mount Bosavi Rural
Nembi Plateau Rural
Nipa Rural
Poroma Rural

Provincial leaders

The province was governed by a decentralised provincial administration, headed by a Premier, from 1978 to 1995. Following reforms taking effect that year, the national government reassumed some powers, and the role of Premier was replaced by a position of Governor, to be held by the winner of the province-wide seat in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea.[7][8]

Premiers (1978–1995)

Premier Term
Andrew Andaija 1978–1980
Tegi Ebeial 1980–1985
Yaungtine Koromba 1985–1990
Albert Mokai 1990–1992
provincial government suspended 1992–1995

Governors (1995–present)

Governor Term
Dick Mune 1995–1997
Anderson Agiru 1997–2000
Hami Yawari 2003–2006
Anderson Agiru 2007–2012
William Powi 2012–present

Members of the National Parliament

The province and each district is represented by a Member of the National Parliament. There is one provincial electorate and each district is an open electorate.

Electorate Member
Southern Highlands Provincial William Powi
Ialibu-Pangia Open Peter O'Neill
Imbonggu Open Pila Niningi
Kagua-Erave Open Maina Pano
Mendi Open Raphael Tonpi
Nipa-Kutubu Open Billy William M. Joseph

2006 state of emergency

On 1 August 2006, the government of Papua New Guinea declared a state of emergency in the country's Southern Highlands region. According to Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, troops were deployed to restore 'law, order and good governance' in the region, following accusations of corruption, theft and misuse of government buildings at the hands of the regional government.[9]

As a region rich in energy resources, the Southern Highlands was at the centre of plans to construct a gas pipeline to pump natural gas to

Exxon Mobil Corporation
, and is expected to begin production in 2014.

References

  1. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  2. ^ "PNG to create two new provinces", Sydney Morning Herald, July 15, 2009
  3. ^ "PNG’S new province Hela, Jiwaka declared" Archived 2012-07-24 at the Wayback Machine, The National, 17 May 2012
  4. ^ National Statistical Office of Papua New Guinea
  5. ^ "Census Figures by Wards - Highlands Region". www.nso.gov.pg. 2011 National Population and Housing Census: Ward Population Profile. Port Moresby: National Statistical Office, Papua New Guinea. 2014.
  6. ^ "Final Figures". www.nso.gov.pg. 2011 National Population and Housing Census: Ward Population Profile. Port Moresby: National Statistical Office, Papua New Guinea. 2014.
  7. ^ May, R. J. "8. Decentralisation: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back". State and society in Papua New Guinea: the first twenty-five years. Australian National University. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Provinces". rulers.org. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  9. ^ "State of emergency in PNG region". BBC News. 2006-08-01.

External links