The newly appointed New Ireland Development Corporation Board was officially sworn-in on Wednesday 8th April 2026 by Senior Provincial Magistrate Patricia Tivese and witnessed by Governor Hon. Byron Chan in Kavieng.
The new NIDC Board comprises of;
- Christian Tarkap – Chairman
- Robin Pitili – Director
- Pius Freeman – Director
- Richard Andia – Provincial Administrator/ Director
The swearing-in ceremony comes after the Provincial Executive Council’s decision on March 15th 2026 termination of previous board, Chairman Dr. Dean Woruba, Deputy Director Christopher Gai, David Carrol, Douglas Tseng, John Kebu, Sam Lakneke and Wesley Pialkolos and to transfer all assets and responsibilities to the new management.
In his remarks chairman Mr. Christian Tarkap expressed gratitude to the Provincial Executive Council for having the trust in the board to deliver investment opportunities for the people of New Ireland while also stimulating economic growth and generate revenue for the province.
The board did not waste time commencing its first official meeting after the swearing-in ceremony with the endorsement of a Technical Project Working Committee comprising of five (5) membership with background in agriculture and fisheries including technical advisors from Kokonas Industry Koporesen (KIK) and Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC).
The technical team is tasked to plan and implement NIDC’s projects targeting agriculture and fisheries farmers from Kavieng and Namatanai in all the 10 LLG’s.
The chairman also reaffirmed NIDC’s commitment to advancing key economic developments with partners for projects; Malagan Five-star Internal Hotel, Arrow Trading three-storey retail and supermarket complex, section 5 shopping mall and joint-Venture Fishing Project- all of which carry the endorsement of the Provincial Executive Council under late Sir Julius Chan’s Government.