Barrick Gold Corporation Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow has urged all PNG parties involved in the Porgera Mine reopening negotiations to complete the process by the end of the first quarter 2023. Bristow was in country as part of his quarterly visits to all Barrick owned and operated mines. In Port Moresby, Bristow met with Prime Minister James Marape, Mining Minister Sir Ano Pala, State Owned Enterprise Minister William Duma, Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr, Vice Minister of State Negotiations Jimmy Maladina, State Solicitor Daniel Rolpagarea and State Negotiation Team Chairman Dairi Vele. He also travelled to Porgera to meet with landowner and community leaders. This is Bristow’s 17th visit to PNG since joining Barrick as CEO in 2019. “The Porgera Mine has been closed for almost three years without good reason. When I visited the mine again yesterday, the landowners and community pleaded for the restart of the mine so that the local economy could be revived and put an end to their suffering. Despite the partnership with the State that we have built, it is unfortunate that certain critical issues remain to be resolved to enable the restart of the mine.” Mr. Bristow said. Porgera was placed under care and maintenance in April 2020. “Delaying the restart of Porgera is not in any stakeholder’s interest, especially the people of Porgera and PNG who have been deprived of the economic benefits of the mine for too long. It would be remiss of us to ignore the impact that the mine closure has had on the residents of Porgera Valley, local and national businesses, and the country’s economy as a whole. Barrick is ready to start the process of reopening the mine. What is needed is equal urgency on the part of all other parties to resolve the remaining issues,” Bristow said. While awaiting the restart of the mine, Bristow also urged government authorities to take necessary actions to restore essential government services to Porgera. Since the national elections of July last year, communities have been unable to access health, judicial, education and banking services in the Porgera Valley due to tribal conflicts, warlordism and ongoing law and order issues. Bristow was pleased with the news of the Ceasefire Agreement signed between the two warring clans this week in Wabag, and commended the Porgera Crisis Management team for their work in ensuring this important agreement was signed. Bristow agreed with the women’s group in Porgera that more action still needs to be taken by Government Authorities and local leaders to ensure security and normalcy returns to the district.

The Director for Crimes Chief Inspector (CIP)Joel Simatab presented a total of six new desktop computers worth K26,000 to the Provincial Police Commander (PPC) of Western Highlands Superintendent John Sagom on Wednesday January 18 at the National Police Headquarters in Konedobu in the National Capital District. CIP Simatab said these computers will aid the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) in the province to do their job well and update the Crimes Division on crime reports and investigations. He said the initiative of providing logistical support to CIDs in all provinces will be rolled out with this being the first to polish up law and order in support of the Commissioner’s intent for 2023. “It’s a timely approach to back up our investigators in the provinces as it goes in line with the Commissioner’s intent for 2023 to be the year of Law Enforcement,” says Mr Simatab. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Crimes Hodges Ette said, “For many years there was no proper coordination between the provinces and the Police Headquarters, and it has come to our attention that we need to support our team in the provinces.” He said this will be the first of its kind to give out computers and there will also be a roll out of other programs such as the Crime Management System and Police Clearance capability in provinces. “A lot of times we do not get the updates of major cases on time from the provinces due to the nonavailability of computers, so we have decided that the time for excuses is over. With the presentation of these computers, we will be expecting proper reports daily,” says ACP Ette. PPC Western Highlands Superintendent John Sagom said that he is thankful for this great support and for being able to see the importance of having resources to conduct investigations. He said his CIDs in the province operate on one computer only which makes the workload quite a lot, but he is a relieved commander with this assistance from headquarters. “With this support, we will make sure that investigations are done properly, we will build up good cases and provide material facts to the court. The intent of the Commissioner for 2023 will be implemented at the provincial and district levels as well,” said PPC Sagom. Mr Simatab said the next province to get its logistical support will be the East New Britain Province.

The National Parliament passed a landmark legislation yesterday when it unanimously voted for the National Trade Bill 2023. The bill was presented by the Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru who, in 2017 introduced the National Trade Policy and the SME Policy and Master Plan. Minister Maru said the National Trade Bill 2023 was one of the most important laws in terms of trade and investment because it was set out to achieving the PNG Vision 2050 which specifically notes the importance of diversifying the economy by promoting and expanding trade and investment in the country. “The Bill seeks to address the need for the anchorage of the trade policy function of the government, as well as giving the legal mandate to the newly established National Trade Office to carry out its powers and functions as envisioned under the Trade Policy. The Bill serves to clearly define the functions of the Ministry and the trade policy administration which has been lacking since independence,” said Minister Maru. “For the last 47 years, PNG has been making reactive, uncoordinated, and ad-hoc decisions on trade matters which have resulted in inconsistent, and at times even conflicting decisions on trade issues, duplication of trade roles and responsibilities, and wastage of government resources. Furthermore, the trade function has been continuously transferred between the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Commerce and Industry, as a division where its activities and programs were not a priority. These shifts in the Trade function between the Ministries occurred about fourteen times since independence which also resulted in the loss of institutional knowledge and memory, lack of proper coordination in trade negotiations, trade policy formulation and implementation and as a consequence, trade and economic interests of the country being compromised. This is one of the reasons why our friends from the Pacific are able to export their taro, ginger, and handicrafts to Australia and New Zealand while PNG which represents over 80 percent of the population and landmass in the region cannot get our agricultural and fisheries products into the Australian and New Zealand markets. This is because they have a coordinating entity with a legal framework unlike PNG,” said Minister Maru. “PNG’s reliance on a few export commodities for foreign currency earnings and the lack of import substitution on basic food items has caused the unbalanced trade performance that is weakening the country’s GDP growth and our foreign reserves. It is also contributing to the social fall-out that we are seeing where our young people who have their secondary and tertiary education cannot find jobs,” said Minister Maru. “This is an immediate and urgent call for PNG to have a competent and dedicated office with a clear legal mandate to identify, negotiate and secure new and better market access for our goods and services, and also promote transparency and predictability in trade policy formulation, trade negotiations, and trade policy implementation in the country,” Minister Maru added. Minister Maru said the National Trade Bill 2023 will ensure that the appropriate linkages are established between all relevant stakeholders both domestically and internationally, for PNG to achieve the National Trade Policy Vision of becoming an internationally competitive export-driven economy, that is built on and aided by an efficient and expanding domestic market. “In the long term, gains from a robust trade policy and this National Trade Bill 2023 will contribute to alleviating poverty and advance PNG’s social and economic well-being. Evermore so, trade has been identified by several international organizations such as the World Bank as a tool to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic going forward,” said Minister Maru. “The successful enactment of this Bill will be another legacy initiative that demonstrates that the Marape-Rosso Government is serious about its commitment to undertake reforms necessary for PNG’s economic prosperity,” said Minister Maru.

UNFPA has delivered 850 dignity kits for women and girls affected by election-related violence in Enga and Southern Highlands. The kits contain period essentials and hygiene items such as soap and a towel. For displaced persons, or communities isolated by violence, access to these basics can be challenging. The provision of dignity kits is a small step towards ensuring the health and hygiene of women and girls is protected, providing them with dignity and preventing secondary health issues such as infections. UNFPA works with partners in the region to ensure these kits reach the affected communities most in need. 300 kits were delivered to the Enga Provincial Health Authority, 300 to Mendi Hospital, and 250 to the Diocese of Mendi. Bishop Donald Lippert expressed his gratitude, sharing “many thanks to UNFPA for thinking of our displaced and struggling women at this time.” The work of our partners, their staff and their volunteers is critical to delivering assistance where it is most needed. UNFPA will be providing further assistance to women and girls affected by conflict in the region with the provision of additional dignity kits and reproductive health kits, including three delivery assistance kits for health care providers that can service up to 30,000 people for 3 months. These additional kits are being procured with support from USAID.

The PNG Olympic Committee will be hosting a series of Youth Athlete Development workshops around the country from 21st to the 28th January, 2023. Through the support from the Olympic Solidarity and Kumul Consolidated Holdings Ltd, the PNGOC will be running workshops in Port Moresby, Goroka, Lae and Kokopo with the aim of building up the capacity of its member National Federations and the other stakeholders in sport that play an important part in identifying talent and developing them. PNG Olympic Committee (PNGOC) Secretary General, Auvita Rapilla said the workshops would assist National Federations (NFs) improve their understanding around developing their own youth athlete development (YAD) programs or talent identification and development (TID) programs to help them with proper structured athlete pathways for the future. Rapilla added: “These workshops are the starting blocks for member federations to build their foundation towards having stronger athlete pathways from the grassroots right through to the elite level where we can have more athletes perform at a higher level”. She said that these workshops are part of Team PNG’s Performance Strategy where Development Pathways is a key focus area. “Key factor in this is for all stakeholders to collaborate and work towards a common goal which is to see Team PNG perform consistently at the multi-sports Games level. The workshop will identify key areas for all stakeholders to strengthen their areas of support as we look towards achieving consistent success at World Cups, World Championships, Pacific Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games” added Rapilla”. PNGOC will be working closely with its major partner, PNG Sports Foundation including High Performance Sport PNG and National Sports Institute to deliver on these workshops. The workshops are the first phase of the project where it is aimed at enhancing and educating the NFs and make them aware of best practice around Youth Athlete Development and Talent ID and eventually have NFs develop their own TID programs to discover world class talent. The workshops will be facilitated by two Australian experts in Talent Identification & Development, Dr. Peter Davis and Dr. Jason Gulbin who have vast amounts of experience in Talent ID, sport management and high performance. A total of five (5) workshops have been scheduled to be held in the four main regional centres around the country: Port Moresby • Saturday 21st January • Sunday 22nd January Goroka • Tuesday 24th January Lae • Thursday 26th January Kokopo • Saturday 28th January PNGOC has invited all member National Federations and Provincial sport authorities to participate in these important workshops.

PacTrade PNG Ltd donated newborn packs consisting of Nappy time diapers and baby wipes to the Maternity Ward of Port Moresby General Hospital to welcome the new year babies. PacTrade’s Marketing Coordinator, Ms. Rosslyn Arek who was on hand to deliver the donation said, “We have been supporting Friends of Pomgen since last year with emergency appeals for the hospital and we look forward to continue this partnership moving forward in 2023. With this donation for the month of January, we now kickstart our monthly supply of new born packs for the Maternity Ward. FOPG Operations, Ms. Grace Roland who was on hand to receive the donation thanked PacTrade for the wonderful partnership and support. Ms. Roland also added that diapers, infant formulas and essential sanitary goods are some of the basic needs that some mothers lack when admitted at the Maternity ward due to their medical state or financial constraints. These situations put them in a position where they have to rely on the hospital again. Therefore, we are very thankful that with this donation and from other friends who have also dropped by to show their support, FOPG can continue to help the hospital.

Jacinda Ardern says she will not be seeking re-election this year and her last day as prime minister is 7 February. Ardern said she reflected over the summer and tried to find a way to keep going for another year and another term but she could not. "After going on six years of some big challenges, I am human. Politicians are human. For me, it's time... "So today I'm announcing that I will not be seeking re-election and my term as prime minister will conclude no later than the 7th of February. "I believe that leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have but also one of the more challenging. You cannot and should not do it unless you have a full tank plus a bit in reserve for those unexpected challenges." Ardern was visibly upset and tearful as she made the announcement. She will stay on as an electorate MP until the end of April to spare the country a by-election. Ardern said she had no plans, professionally, beyond then. Grant Robertson would not be putting himself forward to be Labour's new leader and prime minister, she said. The 2023 general election will take place on 14 October. Source: rnz.com

“New Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan has expressed sadness at the passing of the late Sir Leonard Wilson Kamit who passed on the 9th of January 2023. “Many a great men come and go; they leave their mark where they thread on Earth and their legacy transcends through the ages. The former Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, the late Sir Leonard Wilson Kamit is such a man,” said Sir J. Sir J said Sir Leonard Wilson Kamit was a career banker for over 39 years and was one of the key pioneers within the Central Bank since 1973. “ He worked alongside the first Governor of the Central Bank, the late Sir Henry ToRobert and, indeed, over my two terms as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. Hearing of his passing on the 9h of January 2023, I am deeply saddened by the news. As the sixth Governor of the Bank of PNG, Sir Wilson oversaw the introduction of the new Central Banking Act and Banks and Financial Institutions Act with a more focused set of roles and functions.” He said in his capacity as the Minister for Finance for many years, he valued the confidence and close working ties with Papua New Guineans at the helm of Finance and Banking institutions paving the way for our currency, the introduction of new banks and proper regulation of the Savings and Loan Societies. “It is a milestone for Papua New Guinea that the late Sir Wilson Kamit was appointed to a senior executive position at the head office of the Asian Development Bank in Manila and continued to be fully engaged in various Boards and Consultancies with the Government and the private sector.” Sir J described him as a delightful, humble person. Hard-working and honest, serving as mentor to many. “I remember well, when I sent him on a secret mission to Los Angeles to investigate a hoax financial scheme. A mission of no small consequence in the uncertain world of international finance. Without going into detail, I can say he was successful in achieving our objective.” The casket of the late Sir Leonard Wilson Kamit arrived in Kavieng on Thursday 19th January, accompanying the casket alongside wife Winifred Kamit and his children family were a number of public figures including former Chief Justice Sir Arnold Amet, Acting Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea Benny Popoitai, former Bank of Papua New Guinea Governor Loi Bakani and other prominent New Irelanders. A funeral service was held at the Kavieng United Church before the body was laid to rest at the CIS Cemetary in Kavieng.

Tropical cyclone Irene is causing flooding and power cuts in Vanuatu's main city and closing roads. RNZ Pacific's correspondent in Port Vila said there's flooding in some areas of the capital and road blocks caused by fallen trees. Hilaire Bule said some parts of Port Vila were enduring power cuts, and that Irene has damaged fruit trees such as avocado and banana. The Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazard Department said Irene is expected to hit the Island of Tanna, in south Vanuatu at midday Thursday local time. A red alert is in place for Tafea, Shefa and Malampa provinces, while Penama and Sanma provinces are on yellow alert. Alert level yellow is in place for the Loyalty islands in the east of New Caledonia. Air Vanuatu's international and domestic flights will be cancelled on Thursday and Friday for safety reasons. Based on the French meteorological services 6:40 am update, winds in its centre are close to 101km per hour with gusts reaching 140km per hour. A meteorologist at Meteo-France New Caledonia, Edouard Peleau, said the system is expected to remain at a steady intensity for the next 24 hours. "It is currently appraching Tanna, the south of Vanuatu and is currently moving fast at the speed of 43km per hour. In the next 24 hours it will keep a steady intensity and then start to diminish." Meanwhile, the Fiji Meteorological Service said Irene is likely to track over open waters and remain to the southwest of Fiji, about 560km south-west off Kadavu on Thursday night. It said heavy rain and thunderstorms is expected over Yasawa and Mamanuca Group, western and northern Viti Levu, Bua and Macuata Province, Vatulele, Kadavu and nearby smaller islands. Source:rnz.com

BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP) is the first corporate organization to throw its support behind the Motu Koita Assembly in hosting the 2023 Hiri Moale Festival. BSP commenced its partnership with the Hiri Moale Festival Committee in 2021 and is proud to support the festival for a third year running. BSP Corporate Sponsorship Manager Amelia Minnopu presented a cheque of K30, 000 to the Motu Koita Assembly (MKA) on Wednesday 18th January 2023, as silver sponsors of this annual prestigious Motuan cultural event - the 49th Hiri Moale Festival. “As you all know, culture and traditions are a big part of the communities in PNG and the Pacific and BSP values the communities that we operate in and it’s through events like the Hiri Moale Festival that unifies our brand with our people, “ said Ms Minnopu. “We believe our support will help promote our culture and keeping our traditions alive for the future generations,” She added. Chairman of Motu Koita assembly Dadi Toka Jnr thanked BSP for the support saying they are pleased to partner with BSP again to see the festival go ahead for the third consecutive year. “We applaud the continued support of BSP that celebrates a historical event of traditional trade. The event will also see the crowning of a new Hiri Hanenamo Queen that provides a platform for young women to build their confidence, extend their network and be cultural ambassadors for their people,” said Toka jnr. The event is scheduled to take place on from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th March 2023, at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium in Port Moresby.

New Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan is back in the country again after undergoing several operations in Brisbane Australia. He stepped right back into formal duties as soon as he arrived back on Sunday the 15th of January and throughout the week to attend to parliament duties. Amidst Parliament sitting on the 17th of January, Sir J made time to meet with interim CEO for Newcrest mining Sherry Duhe and Interim Chief Operating officer Craig Jones. Ms Duhe who is most likely the first female head of any resource and energy sector company operating in the country and has extensive finance and leadership experience across various global organizations, including the past four years as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President at Woodside Energy. She has held a range of senior international roles across sectors, including at Shell exploration & production, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Duke Energy and J.M Huber Corporation. As with any developer in the province, Sir J hopes the miner will continue to contribute to the lives of all New Irelanders in any meaningful ways through its community and Government relations. Sir J also met with senior Papua New Guinean officials through out the day to catch up on current developments in the country and to discuss ways forward for New Ireland and the country. Earlier on in the week, Sir J was officially welcomed back to the country by acting Administrator Moses Taram who happened to be in Port Moresby at the time. Sir J flew back to New Ireland on Thursday 19th January after taking part in the Governor General vote. On arrival he was given a warm New Ireland welcome back home in true New Ireland custom, it was also his first time to set foot in the New look terminal after it was officially opened last year in November. Sir J also made time to lay a wreathe at the resting place of the late Sir Wilson Kamit who was buried in Kavieng

Kina Bank and Links of Hope continue their partnership into 2023 with a donation of K100,000. The partnership between Links of Hope and Kina Bank arose from the late Nancy Moka, who was a founding board member and active volunteer living on site to support children who had lost parents HIV. When she passed from Covid in 2021, Kina Bank discovered her deep ties to Links of Hope and has since then has made a commitment to continue late Nancy’s legacy with the annual donation. Kina Bank continues to honour her memory and support her legacy through this annual donation to enable Links of Hope to continue their vital work of supporting children impacted by HIV. Country Head and Executive General Manager Banking, Lesieli Taviri said ‘Nancy’s legacy of selfless giving and her heart for the community is an example we aspire to emulate within Kina Bank. Links of Hope are a light in the darkness supporting an otherwise forgotten group of people’ when she presented the cheque to Country Manager for Links of Hope Debbie Bromely. Mrs Bromley said ‘Our Operational focus this year is on further development of our Health Education curriculum, programs to upskill and train adolescents on the Links of Hope program and aligning with key partners to drive change in the area of Child Protection. We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of Kina Bank, which goes such a long way to supporting the operational and staffing structure needed to support our work and growth. We honour the memory and legacy of our dear friend and founding board memory, Nancy Moka, who’s passion and heart for this work continues to have a lasting impact on so many people’. Links of Hope began as a way to support women released from prison in the creation of small business enterprises, while also assisting a small number of widows and those living impacted by HIV and AIDS. A major focus of Links of Hope now is the operation of a Child Sponsorship program supporting children impacted by HIV. Children in the program are supported with monthly nutritional care packages, education programs, school fees and packages.