David fighting obstinate Goliath

EDUCATION

By CYRIL GARE
HE is funny, charming and of pleasant character.
Great chap to hang around with the next time you are in the East Sepik capital, Wewak.
Many call him “Ore” referring to ‘Operation Rausim English’. Others go by the initial of DKG for ‘David Kilim Goliath’.
David Gai Ulgu from Rubukum No.3 village in South Wosera in the Wosera-Gawi district of East Sepik is so obsessed with the notion that if Tok Pisin had become the official language of instruction in the national education system, the country would have been better off just like Japan, China, South Korea and other such countries where local language is used in teaching/learning and official business.

David ran in two national general elections (2012 and 2017) and once for the Wewak town mayor’s seat on the ‘Ore’ platform but did not make it in any. It was a ‘David against Goliath’ situation. But this David never quite slew Goliath, in a way, and that’s ok. David isn’t a loser after all.
Two weeks ago I was taken up to his Rubukum village for a tour of the Sitaka Technical Vocational Eduction Training (TVET) Centre, a school he started from a personal investment of K180,000. It is a humble setting from bush materials but blessed by the Department of Education as a registered TVET training facility, a first of its kind in the Wosera area.
The centre has 11 teachers and seven assistant teachers headed by manager John Bosky Willie.
In November the school will host its first graduation with over 100 graduating in hospitality and tourism, plumbing, carpentry and mechanical trades.
“It has always been my dream to build a school so young people who drop out of the education system can be given a second chance to make it in life with trade skills,” David said.
David himself hasn’t been to school, not even to prep level. So he knows very well what it’s like about that missed opportunity.
Despite the odds, David did make it in life. He met Sir Brian Bell a couple of times and was awarded ‘top salesman of the year’ after working with Cocoa Cola Amatil, thanks to his elder brother Robert Ulgu, a former senior Cocoa-Cola sales executive who took him on board for a humble beginning as a casual in Lae and later in Wewak.
His top natural selling skills together with the experience from Coca-Cola, David began a new lease of life as a street vendor selling peanuts, scones, and later flex cards for the ‘China men’ in Wewak after formal employment.
From the commissions he earned David was able to save until he had enough to buy a portion of land along the picturesque Meni beachfront in Wewak. Thereon, he established Narapel Trading (a store) and later bought a Hino truck which he used as a PMV running the Wosera-Wewak route.
After selling the Hino truck and foregoing the store, David formed a joint venture with an Asian partner for a mammoth K10 million 16 units merchandizing store on the same piece of land Narapel Trading used to be (near the Mobil depot).
And there came this great denial by his very own East Sepik provincial government alleging the following:

• The building is constructed too close to the main road, it must be 20 metres away;
• It is constructed close to main power line;
• It is constructed over telecommunication cables;
• It is constructed over a water main; and other such claims that halted operations of business.

However, independent observers established that;

• The building was constructed within the limits of current allotment as provided by Division of Lands and Physical Planning that is Allotment 4 Section 8. Only the issuing authority can change the boundaries. It is not the duty of client (David and partners) to change the allotment nor do they have authority to do so. As it is, it is legally correct that they built within the current allotment;
• K14,000 was paid to PNG Power Ltd to remove the steel pole to be replaced by wooden pole. Work is incomplete;
• There are no water pipe and telecommunication cables in the ground where the building is, these claims are baseless therefore.

For loss of business, David and partner are talking with lawyers and building a case against the provincial government.
In essence, the “stop work” “stop operate” move by ESPG against one of its own Sepik citizen is draconian and ill-fated given the fact that this building is one of the biggest in Wewak town and has already caused a ripple amongst existing businesses.
Our constitution allows for equal opportunity and participation as in the National Goals and Directive Principles and so David Gai Ulgu and his partner are entitled to this right unreservedly.
“I‘ve built my business from scraps and now it’s halted unnecessarily because my government of East Sepik thinks otherwise believing that I have done something wrong.”
For now, David concentrates on the operations of the Sitaka TVET centre.
Principal John Bosky is optimistic about the future of the Sitaka TVET, seeing a “fully fledged technical school” in the near future. He, however, highlighted immediate risks facing the centre.
He said the provincial education division does not have qualified personnel to oversee TVET learning and training in the province, hence there is misunderstanding between the provincial education division and the new Sitaka TVET Centre. The centre has not received any subsiding funds for the year.
Also there is no funding support for the Wosera-Gawi district. Besides these issues, there has been a delay in funding for Sitaka’s two project proposals; the integrated agriculture farm project for K1 million and infrastructure development project for K7.4 million.

• Cyril Gare is a freelance journalist.