Noah Kool Yalba (born 10 October 1962) 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 ...

n politician. He has been the Governor of

Chimbu Province Chimbu, more frequently spelled Simbu, is a province in the Highlands Region of Papua New Guinea. The province has an area of 6,112 km2 and a population of 376,473 (2011 census). The capital of the province is Kundiawa. Mount Wilhelm, the ta ...

from 2012 to 2017, as a member of the governing People's National Congress. Kool was a school teacher and member of the

Papua New Guinea rugby league team The Papua New Guinea national rugby league team represents Papua New Guinea in the sport of rugby league football. In Papua New Guinea, Rugby league in Papua New Guinea, Rugby League is a highly popular sport and is regarded as the country's na ...

prior to entering politics. He played in one match for Papua New Guinea, playing against the Great Britain Lions during their 1990 tour. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Chimbu governorship at a March 2004 by-election (for the People's Labour Party) and the 2007 election (for the United Party). He won the seat on his third attempt as an independent at the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

, and joined the governing People's National Congress after the election. In October 2012, he set up a permanent office for the province in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

to minimise the expense of trips to the capital by provincial public servants. In February 2013, he was credited with the opening of the Chimbu Teachers College, the first tertiary institution in the province, as a means of developing human resources to support economic growth in what Kool described as a province "geographically rugged and unsuitable for any major economic development. In May 2015, he called for tougher

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

trafficking laws. In late 2015, he repeatedly called for greater aid for the province in response to a devastating drought which had dried up water supplies and destroyed crops, declaring that it had become an "emergency situation". In May 2016, Kool announced that he had secured funding for the Simbu Unitech Satellite Campus, a

Kundiawa Kundiawa is the capital of Simbu Province, Papua New Guinea, with a population of 8,147 (2000 Census). It lies along the Highlands Highway approximately halfway between Goroka and Mount Hagen, respectively the capitals of the Eastern Highlands an ...

campus of the

Lae Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...

-based

Papua New Guinea University of Technology The Papua New Guinea University of Technology (Unitech) is a university located in Lae, Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. Courses offered Unitech offers courses in the following fields: *Agriculture *Architecture *Construction Management (Pr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kool, Noah 1962 births Living people Governors of Chimbu Province Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea People's National Congress (Papua New Guinea) politicians Papua New Guinean rugby league players Papua New Guinea national rugby league team players Rugby league players from Chimbu Province