The Prime Minister, James Marape, officially opened the Central Administration and the Humilvaeka Student Forum Building on Wednesday 08th of September 2026 in front of a huge crowd at the University of Goroka. Despite being tired from his maiden Port Moresby to Lae trip, he mustered his strength to not only formally officiate at the gathering but join the Huli dancers for a quick dance.
Marape said, “This is the greatest auditorium in the country right now”. He stressed that quality education must be purchased at all cost and challenged educationists to have working policies targeted to fix early childhood, elementary and primary school age students in getting “the basics right” in order for them to succeed in higher education.
He said that if huge monies were paid by the government to have superb learning facilities then it was incumbent on the students to display responsible ethics and etiquette. “There should be no chewing of betlenut or smoking in and around your learning environments. We spend money to ensure that quality becomes the output"
Vice Chancellor, Dr. Teng Waninga said, “This will now centralize key university services and provide modern workspaces to support efficient governance and service delivery. This then will free up spaces which can be used as lecture rooms.” “The building represents a major step in the University’s commitment to building a modern and responsive learning environment that meets the needs of students and staff”, he added.
Waninga said that the culmination and completion of these two major and iconic infrastructure atop the Humilaveka hill would not have been possible without the continuous financial backing of the Marape/Rosso government and expressed his immense gratitude to the current government.
DHERST Minister Kinoka Feo who ensured ground preparations went without hiccups prior to the opening, heaped praises on the Vice Chancellor saying that is was his “insistence at odd hours” that ensured that the contractors were paid off and the building delivered.
The China Railway Construction Engineering Group PNG Ltd constructed the K135 million building over a three-year period. The building looks like one single building but is in fact, two separate buildings with its own piping systems. The six- storey Central Administration building covers a total of 7,546 square meters. It has an underground car park with lifts all the way to the rooftop. The ground floor will house Students Administration and Student Welfare; first floor will have the offices of School Professional Liaison Office, ICT, IDFL and Building & Estates. Planning, Somare Research Institute, Legal office, Public Relations, Quality Enhancement Hub, Internal Auditor and the Alumane office will occupy the third floor. Fourth Floor will have the Vice Chancellors, his three Pro Vice Chancellors; the Registrars and Council offices. A big boardroom and a function room are also located there. The building has a lift that will only be accessible with access cards. This ensures centralized key support services are managed well.
Meanwhile the Student Forum has a seating capacity for 3000 persons. It boasts a superb audio room with ceiling mounted speakers and lighting. It also has two huge digital billboard which faces opposite sides of the building. The building has inclusive walkways and ablutions for its special needs students as well. Students will have their SRC office, three counseling rooms, three additional ATM machines (Kina, Westpac and Mi Bank), a pharmacy, bookshop and a mini post office in the additional spaces in the outer spaces of the complex.
