Manus Province Explained

Manus Province
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Papua New Guinea
Seat Type:Capital
Seat:Lorengau
Parts Type:Districts
Parts Style:list
P1:Manus District
Leader Title:Governor
Leader Name:Charlie Benjamin
Area Total Km2:2000
Population Total:60485
Population As Of:2011 census
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics1 Title1:Main languages
Timezone1:AEST
Utc Offset1:+10
Iso Code:PG-MRL
Blank Name Sec1:HDI (2019)
Blank Info Sec1:0.611[1]
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Manus Province is the smallest province in Papua New Guinea in terms of both land area and population, with a land area of, but with more than of water, and the total population is 60,485 (2011 census). The provincial town of Manus is Lorengau.

The province consists of only one district (Manus District; with identical boundaries to those of the province), 12 Local Level Governments (LLGs) and 127 Wards.[2] [3]

The province is made up of the Admiralty Islands (a group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago), as well as Wuvulu Island and nearby atolls in the west, which collectively are referred to as the Western Islands. The largest island in the group is Manus Island, where Lorengau and a former Australian immigration detention centre are located.

Flag

The Manus friarbird, known locally as the chauka, is represented on the Manus provincial flag. The designer of the Manus Province flag Luke Bulei explained his reasons for its design in 1977: chauka is only found in the Manus province; it heralds dawn and signals sunset. NBC Radio Station had changed its name to Maus Bilong Chauka several years earlier. Bulei explained that the colour brown on the flag represents the inland people and the blue represents the island people. The other important symbol on the flag is the green snail, which is unique to Manus Province.[4]

District and LLGs

Manus Province has a single district, which contains one urban (Lorengau) and eleven rural Local Level Government (LLG) areas. Manus District has the highest number of LLGs of any other district in Papua New Guinea. For census purposes, the LLG areas are subdivided into wards and those into census units.[5]

District District Capital LLG Name
Manus DistrictLorengauAua-Wuvulu Rural
Balopa Rural
Bisikani-Soparibeu Kabin Rural
Lelemadih-Bupichupeu Rural
Lorengau Urban
Los Negros Rural
Nali Sopat-Penabu Rural
Nigoherm Rural
Pobuma Rural
Pomutu-Kurti-Andra Rural
Rapatona Rural
Tetidu Rural

Provincial leaders

The province was governed by a decentralised provincial administration, headed by a Premier, from 1977 to 1995. Following reforms taking effect that year, notably the introduction of the Organic Law on Provincial Government and Local Level Government 1995, 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.[6] [7]

Premiers (1977–1995)

PremierTerm
1977–1978
1979–1982
1982–1984
1984–1995

Governors (1995–present)

GovernorTerm
1995–1996
1996–2002
2002–2007
2007–2012
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. Job Pomat as Manus District Open Member, elected into office in 2016, made history as the first politician from the province to be elected as the Speaker of the Parliament of Papua New Guinea in 2016.

ElectorateMember
Manus Provincial Charlie Benjamin
Job Pomat

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab. hdi.globaldatalab.org. en. 2020-04-18.
  2. Protecting against coastal hazards in Manus and New Ireland provinces Papua New Guinea: An assessment of present and future options. Narayan, Siddharth . Cuthbert, Richard . Neale, Ezra . Humphries, William . Ingram, Jane. 2. 2015. 10.13140/RG.2.1.4607.2729. Wildlife Conservation Society.
  3. Web site: Manus Province . PNG Facts . 17 December 2020.
  4. Web site: Flags of the World. 1 February 2024. crwflags.com.
  5. https://sdd.spc.int/pg Papua New Guinea
  6. Web site: 8. Decentralisation: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back . Australian National University . State and society in Papua New Guinea: the first twenty-five years . 31 March 2017 . May, R. J..
  7. Web site: Provinces . rulers.org . 31 March 2017.