HISTORY
Changes in funding ensure more direct benefits to communities along the famous WW2 track
ON the eve of Anzac Day in Papua New Guinea, the Northern and Central people living along the famous Kokoda Trail must be held in high regard for a sacrifice that will last generations to come.
To ensure the preserving of the Kokoda Track and the heritage of the people is not lost, the people from Kaina and Biage in Kokoda and Koiari in Central have freed up their land to allow a lasting legacy.
The sacrifices the indigenous people made is to ensure the country does not lose out on a national heritage and ensure the preserving of the track, the forest and the heritage of the people.
Anzac Day, held on April 25 annually, is a national day of remembrance in Australian and New Zealand. It commemorates all who served and died in military operations marking the 1915 Gallipoli landing and the ‘Anzac’ (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) spirit, courage, mate-ship and sacrifice.
The bond with PNG is embodied in the iconic Kokoda Track, a monument to the friendship, courage, endurance and sacrifice during World War II.
Kokoda Track Authority Acting Chief Executive Officer Julius Wargirai said the focus has shifted to the revenue collected from the track because for the first time since the establishment of KTA in 2003, funds have been given back to the people.
“This would not be possible if the National Government had not included us on their annual budget starting in 2024. What used to be put towards administration and other matters for KTA can now be put to where it is supposed to be and it’s for the people along Kokoda,” he said.
He said the focus now was the K900,000 collected from tracking fees and registrations in 2025 is being put into school subsidies for eligible students from both Central and Northern side of the track.
This is the first time in the history of the authority for its management to implement such an arrangement for its beneficiaries attending only colleges and Universities.
The revenue is not only going to school fees but other projects which have started in 2024 with allocations of items that helps them such as sewing machines, chainsaws, items for poultry and other items for communities and churches.
From January to April, the KTA subsidiary programme assisted 171 students from both Koiari LLG in Central and the Kokoda LLG in Northern.
The Kaina and Biage make up Kokoda on the Northern side while Koiari makes up the Central end of the track.
For the Koiari students, 96 students were assisted at 14 institutions, from Biage in Kokoda 59 students attending 20 institutions were assisted and 16 from Kaina in Kokoda attending 10 institutions benefits. Total subsidies paid amounted to over K600,000.
The school fees were paid directly to the student’s personal bank accounts and they paid their fees through the respective institution’s online portals. This arrangement applies to students attending tertiary institutions around the country.
In a historic budget review from 2018, a specific budget of K350,000 was allocated for a review of the KTA and for operational costs. Historically, the provincial government has allocated around K10,000 per year per for the maintenance of the operating airstrip in the Kokoda region.
This has further prompted the PNG National Executive Council to plan for the creation of the new Kokoda Track Management Authority (KTMA) to replace KTA as a special authority. The KTA is an implementing agency and manages the activities and benefits of the two declared LLGs of Koiari in Central and Kokoda in Northern.
Wargirai said the subsidy was one of the benefits going back to the people among others.
“We also have other benefits from the operations, which have mandated requirements like the audits from 2018 to 2023 which are completed.
Training assistance
“We have improved in other areas such as recruitment of additional rangers and the Australian government has assisted with training and they are equipped with international knowledge on basic landowner matters, general maintenance of the track and these are certified operators for both male and female. The added bonus was the final part of training was at a Queensland park for hands on experience.
“KTA moved out of the old in Port Moresby as it was costly and we requested the Ministry of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs to be housed within their office and we are here today,” he said.
The 96-kilometer Kokoda Track passes through 14 wards, six within the Koiari LLG and eight along Biage and Kaina in the Kokoda LLG. In 2025, KTA started delivering goods to track communities, starting with the six wards in the Koiari LLG.
KTA’s main source of revenue is from international tourist trekking fees at K350 per person but vary according to different tracking companies. Most come in groups organised by international tour companies which pay a license fee of K1,200.
Most of the international tour operators engage local tour operators who further engage porters and guides. The benefits have a ripple effects for locals. From a ratio of one trekker to two porters, and in groups of over 20, the money generated goes directly to benefit the locals. So every year the track makes over K800,000 to K1.2 million, depending on the number of trekkers in a year.
KTA is encouraging more cooperation and collaboration between trekkers, landowners, stakeholders and others to encourage an increase in revenue as this can only mean more benefits to the locals.
Direct government funding
In past years, there was no government funding and that revenue earned which was supposed to go to the people within the two LLGs was divided to cater for administration and other priority projects which KTA carried out.
Government funding included an approved K1 million and an additional K5 million in 2024. K1 million was allocated for salaries and office refurbishment and to partner with the Australian government for the implementation of projects in the areas.
The Government has included KTA on its annual budget allowing K5 million for administration work. This now allows KTA to use the track funds directly to benefit the locals along the track.
The 2026 allocation was partially released last month and caters for the KTA administration and salaries.
KTA Chairman Jack Deia said most groups have been assisted with livelihood projects such as poultry, piggery and other small to medium enterprises (SMEs).
“These are livelihood projects so parents can be able to sustain for their families,” he said.
“All earned revenue for 2023 was K800,000 which was put into projects for the locals in 2024 and the same about was also given out in project form for 2025.
“Last year we earned K900,000 in revenue which we are now using to bring in projects as well as school fee subsidies to the two LLGs. This has never happened before since the establishment of the KTA and recently, the management has used its initiative to help parents struggling to pay schools fees. It is a new project in KTA and we find challenges but we have to continue to make it better for everyone,” he said.
Northern Governor Gary Juffa continues to be vocal about the environment and the welfare of the people living along the track and has made reference to several landowner’s issues and outstanding financial obligations by the Government.
He stands argues that communities have sacrificed potential economic projects that could have earned them millions of kina and secured major infrastructure and social developments.
An example, he said, was the Mount Kodu landowners and their plight for better services and benefits given their sacrifices.
Juffa said: “They had an opportunity to develop a gold project and it would have been a large and significant project that would have changed their lives to create many spin-off benefits and revenues for the communities.
“An agreement between the PNG and Australian governments is to preserve that area for heritage and environmental purposes. Because of that agreement, the mine was never developed. But it was on the understanding that the landowners because of the economic opportunities they were forgoing, would be compensated with those payments.”
Juffa said this eventually led to the closure of the track in 2025 but that issue has since been resolved and landowners are now ready to work with the Government and the industry.
Back to Anzac Day: While the Australians and New Zealanders partake in the dawn service and trek the Kokoda in tribute to fallen soldiers and their fuzzy wuzzy guides, the people along the track are re-committed to working alongside their Australian counterparts for another successful year of trekking involving locals and foreigners, especially from Australia and around the world.
Anzac Day is a time of reflection in a solemn atmosphere, often marked by final preparations for adawn services and reflections on the shared history between PNG, Australia and New Zealand.
While Anzac Day is no longer a public holiday in PNG, the event is marked by heartfelt tributes, particularly regarding the “fuzzy wuzzy angels” and the brutal fighting along the Kokoda Track.
It is around this time that the Kokoda people also offer their heartfelt thank you to Australia for honouring its commitment to ensuring Kokoda is not a forgotten heritage and the National Government for providing the allocated funding to KTA and allowing funds from the track to go direct to the landowners for social projects. This is to ensure a sacrifice made by the landowners to preserve their land for heritage is not lost.
Walking through the landscape, across rivers and up mountains to a beautiful view of Kokoda has forged many years of relationships built by two people supporting each other through a time of trouble and fear. The walk ends at the Isurava memorial.
In 2025, Prime Minister James Marape and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese braved the rugged Kokoda to mark the Anzac Day. Like both leaders, many residents and visitors will spend the day reflecting on the thousands of graves at locations like the Bomana War cemetery, which holds over 3,800 soldiers’ remains.
The Australian High Commission staff and representatives often finalise arrangements for the major dawn service at Bomana (Port Moresby) and other sites across the country, including Lae, Rabaul and Madang.
With a cultural focus on the “fuzzy wuzzy angels”, many tributes are frequently paid to the then Papuan and New Guinean civilians who carried supplies and evacuated wounded soldiers during the war.
This is also a time when educational activities often occur in schools to teach the younger generations about the significance of the 1942 New Guinea World War II campaign.
The largest, most notable service in PNG, drawing hundreds for a 4.30 am to 4.45 am dawn service on April 25, is prepared for on the eve. Services in Rabaul (RSL Cenotaph), Lae (War Cemetery), and Madang (Coastwatcher’s Lighthouse) are also prepared.
The Kokoda Track includes commemorations which are held at Isurava and other points along the track, often attended by locals and trekking groups who spend the days leading up to Anzac day hiking the route.
Although a day of quiet preparation, the eve of Anzac Day in PNG serves as an emotional reminder of the enduring “PNG and Australia Partnership” forged during World War II.
