Gary Juffa is a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

politician and Member of the 10th

Parliament of Papua New Guinea The National Parliament of Papua New Guinea is the unicameral national legislature in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea but gained its current name after the nation was granted independence ...

. He founded the People's Movement for Change party, of which he is the sole Member of Parliament. He was first elected to the 9th

as the Governor of

Oro Province Oro Province, formerly (and officially still) Northern Province, is a coastal province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Popondetta. The province covers 22,800 km2, and has 176,206 inhabitants (2011 census). The province shares la ...

(also known as Northern Province) in July 2012.

Early life and education

Juffa has written of his childhood, where he accompanied his mother, who was a family planning coordinator, as she traveled around Papua New Guinea for employment. He lived across the country and attended a number of schools, but spent a formative period of time in Kokoda with his grandparents. He attended University of Papua New Guinea.

Career

Juffa entered the public service, joining the PNG Customs Department. He rose through the ranks to become Commissioner of Customs. He resigned in 2011 and ran successfully for Parliament as Governor of

in 2012. He was re-elected in 2017. Juffa is an outspoken opponent of logging activity in his home province and across the country. In March 2018, Juffa led a shut down of controversial logging operations at Collingwood Bay, seizing equipment and arresting allegedly illegal workers. He has repeatedly called for action against

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...

on customary land in Parliament. Juffa is also an outspoken supporter of the

Free Papua Movement "Free Papua Movement" ( id, Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM, tpi, Fri Wes Papua Grup) is an umbrella term for the independence movement established during 1965 in the West Papuan or West New Guinea territory which is currently being administrat ...

. Websites and social media supporting Indonesia's occupation of West Papua have targeted Juffa, and claim Papua New Guinea's record on corruption suggests independence for West Papua would create a future that "is nothing than bleak" ic Juffa is vehemently opposed to the removal of World War II relics from Papua New Guinea. He believes that relics already removed, such as the B-17 Bomber '' Swamp Ghost'', should be returned to the country.

Blogs and writing

Juffa maintains a

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and

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presence and is active on social media.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juffa, Gary Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea 1972 births Living people University of Papua New Guinea alumni