The governor of Papua New Guinea's Manus Island says as long as locals are benefitting, they want Australia's asylum-seeker detention camp to stay.
The Australian based Refugee Action Coalition says no one has been sent to the Manus centre since an asylum seeker was killed in February during two nights of violence, and it believes Australia plans to close it.
The Manus Governor, Charlie Benjamin, says he hasn't heard anything about the centre being wound down.
One of the first group of asylum seekers at the Manus Island centre in August 2013. Photo: AAP / Department of Immigration and Citizenship
He says it is employing just over 1,000 local people.
"It's giving employment to young people so in general the people of Manus are quite happy, business is picking up and the people have money, at least they have some money in their hands although a lot of those jobs really have to do with labour rather than anything else."
The governor for Manus Province Charlie Benjamin.
