Fidelis Hela recently folded a colourful career in agriculture, serving the institute for 24 years after
starting out with the Department of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries in 1978.
LAES (Lowland Agriculture Experimentation Station) was where Fidelis began his journey, and it
was where he called it a day and was fare welled by group of people who became like family.
Fidelis drew a lot of inspiration from late Rosa Kambuou in the field of agriculture. He was determined
to hone his knowledge in entomology and through the years built his skills in management
and administration.
This aspect of his skills took him to Tambul in Western Highlands, Bubia in Morobe and eventually returning to his beloved Kerevat as centre manager for the regional centre. A job which included management of staff and resources for research purposes.
While at Bubia, Fidelis led a committee to organise probably the last of the NARI sports tournament in
September 2010. This tournament brought staff and dependents from the regional centres to participate in various sporting activities.
Some of the short courses he participated in were: biological control of pests in Islamabad in the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan; studied at the PNG University of Technology, Lae; Management of Rural
Development course at the Mananga Management Centre in the Royal Kingdom of Swaziland in South
Africa; and six months Australian government funded study on Frontline Management at the
C Fidelis Hela with another former NARI staff Dr Sim Sar, an entomologist who has also retired.
Technical And Further Education Centre in New South Wales. Mr Hela recalls a moment that set the path of his career.
“I went to the Agronomist in Charge John O’Donoghue. He asked me which research section I would prefer to work in and I told him that I was interested in crops and insects. I started my career in entomology with DAL and then with NARI.”
His contributions in the field of entomology is particularly on the biological control study of cocoa
and coconut pests.
He attributes his years of service to God as he retires and looks forward to celebrating his 65th birthday
in July.
