Air Niugini and BSP Financial Group (BSP) customers can now book and pay for airline tickets instantly and securely online without using their BSP Cards via BSP Pay online payment option. BSP Pay payment solution allows BSP account holders to carry out online payments on registered merchants without using their BSP cards. The only information required is their CIF (BSP ID) and registered mobile number to receive security codes. The partnership has taken an exciting step in diversifying Air Niugini airline ticket payments by accepting BSP Pay as an alternate online payment option. BSP General Manager Digital, Nuni Kulu said that, “This payment solution allows BSP customers who do not own a visa or credit card, to be able to purchase tickets online,” said Mrs Kulu Nuni added that: “With BSP Pay, our customers will be able to benefit from another secure payment option and enjoy a hassle-free express checkout experience. The payment system securely and instantly generates a dynamic security code that validates each transaction with a one-time passcode through the customer’s registered mobile number. The payment process is so simple; passengers actually skip the physical reach for the wallet or purse to retrieve bankcards for details.” Air Niugini General Manager, Commercial Paul Abbot said with BSP Pay, it now gives the airline’s non-credit cardholders a safe and convenient alternative form of payment online. “Over 70% of our customers are domestic travelers, PNG based, therefore the BSP Pay option is a convenient and flexible online payment option for them. It greatly improves access and people’s ability to book travel from the comfort of their own home and now adds to other forms of online payment we already have including Visa, Mastercard and Amex. Air Niugini also accepts points plus cash payment for its Destinations Loyalty members and poli pay online payment option for travel originating out of Australia. Apart from the online payment, Air Niugini also has other forms of payment including BSP Mobile Tickets payment option, Cash and UATP card.

Nineteen employees of the National Airports Corporation (NAC) have successfully completed a specialised Training Course in Airport Master Planning. This specialised training is provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and is designed for aviation management professionals and infrastructure developers. With this specialised training, these officers now have the essential knowledge and skills to effectively contribute to the organisation in the following areas; • Develop an Airport Master Plan that integrates the strategic objectives of the business. • Identify Traffic Forecasting Methodologies used in master planning • Develop and evaluate strategic options and • Design a robust development plan and phasing strategy, among others. The officers are currently in collaboration with the management to review NAC’s Master Plan alongside industry best practices to ensure that the 22 national airports and their associated facilities are strategically planned, developed and implemented in a safe, secure, environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. This would then help NAC to envision its airports and position them to foster economic growth for Papua New Guinea. The training is funded by NAC through its Project Management Unit (PMU) under the JICA ODA Loan, to meet the training and development needs of employees and to improve knowledge and skills gaps in key operational areas. Investment in this training demonstrates NAC's commitment to building a competent workforce that can deliver expected results in order to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives. Since taking office, the current Management has increased its focus and investment in the training and capacity development of the workforce because it believes that this will result in improved productivity of employees which will lead to overall improvements in business performance. The one-week training was facilitated by an independent consultant recently in Port Moresby. Source: National Airport Corporation 

Spencer Prior, a former professional football player for Manchester United player in the English Premier League is now the appointed head coach for the PNG National Women's team PNG Football Association in close consultation with the Oceania Football Confederation are pleased to confirm the official appointment of Spencer Prior as the new PNG Women’s National Football Team head coach. Spencer was preferred ahead of another 2 other shortlisted applicants out of a general field of 15 applications for the PNG Women’s National team head coach position. Spencer holds a AFF/AFC Pro coaching diploma, UEFA B coaching license and other football accreditations such as football coach educator, conditioner and analyst. He also holds a Bachelor of Psychological Science besides football. His coaching career is focused more on Women’s football development because he strongly believes that women’s football has the potential to bridge the gap of football development in all countries. Besides working with clubs in and around Australia and Asia, Spencer’s international coaching experiences included being the head coach for the Thailand Women’s National team from 2016/2017; head coach for the Australian U19 Women’s national team 2012/2013; and assistant coach for the Australian Women’s National senior team (Matildas) in 2011/2013. Having worked in Thailand and growing up in Vietnam, Spencer, a Brit turned Australian is well accustomed to different cultures and environments and is very approachable and adaptable to all. These are amongst key personalities that made Spencer stand out. Spencer had a professional football career as a player in the English Premier league for over 10 years playing with clubs such as Manchester City, Leicester City, Norwich City, Derby County, Cardiff City and Southend United as a central defender. “I would like to thank the PNG Football Association and Oceania Football Confederation Managements for giving me this opportunity to lead the PNG Women’s National team to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup play-offs in New Zealand in February 2023.” “We are currently preparing the players in Sydney where we are working together on developing high performance mindsets. Our aim has been to get the players to buy into the expectations on and off the pitch of what will be required to win two (2) games of football against teams that have spent 3 and a half years preparing for this moment.” “We have an opportunity to achieve the ultimate goal of qualifying for a spot in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup of which will raise the profile of women’s football in PNG.” ‘’While we have a good number of players still in country having visas and passports processed, it’s important for us to see all players that are in contention for a spot in the squad. We have organized a trial/practice match to ensure all players are given the same opportunity to be seen. This game will also provide a window to see those who have been in the high-performance program for the past two weeks. I’ am very much looking forward to meeting with all the staff and players together to discuss the next three months ahead towards the first play-offs vs Panama.’’ “The attitude and application of the players since coming into camp in Sydney has been first class. We are developing a culture that allows us to push the players beyond their limits everyday challenging them physically, mentally and technically.” ‘’This is a very exciting and challenging project and I’ am honored to be part of it.” Unquote. PNGFA Technical Director who officially welcomed head coach Spencer Prior for and on behalf of PNG Football Association said he was satisfied that our Women’s National Football team are now under a very good coaching leadership that can make a difference in a short space of time. He said the players have established very positive team bondage and culture which was encouraging for the team in the way forward.

Kairuku Hiri Netball Association (KHNA), an affiliate of Netball PNG officially kicked Start its 15th Tournament at the Rita Flynn Netball Courts, yesterday. This Association was established by Mrs Loi Vele in 2007. Mrs Vele is also the patron of this Association. Acting President Hoi Isaiah in her opening remarks acknowledged the Major Sponsor Hon. Keith Iduhu, Member for Hiri Koiari and support sponsors Niu Power and Exxon Mobil. President Hoi emphasised unity and true sportsmanship throughout the Tournament. Out of the 17 Associations, 9 Associations attended. MC Garry Tauna introduced the 9 Associations in attendance; Hisiu, Kido, Lealea, Papa, Boera, Porebada, Tubuseria, Barakau, Gaire The 8 Associations who sent in their apology were; Nabua Paka, Koiari, Manumanu, Gorohu, Kouderika, Roku, Dagoda and Rabuka. Also in attendance to witness the opening Ceremony and Day 1 of Games were; NPNG President Ulato Avei, HPM Iammo Launa, SDM Annie Iamo, MCM Kori Toua-Navuru, Board Member, Dianna Kila, Abau Netball Patron, Mrs Thavu Temu and the Media reps. The games will run over 3-days and end on Friday, 25th Nov 2022. The game was officially declared opened by Lynette Maha, EO of Netball PNG and directed by Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation whilst Umpire Allocation is co-ordinated by Eileen Simet. Source: Netball PNG

The National Department of Health with technical support of WHO Papua New Guinea is currently conducting consultation of its draft strategy and guidelines on addressing health impacts of climate change in Papua New Guinea. The workshop has brought Environmental Health Officers from the MOMASE Region to Madang this week, to discuss two important documents for the country: 1. The Draft National Climate Change and Health Strategy and Action Plan (SAP) and 2. Draft Climate Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Care Facility (CRESHCF) Guidelines. This is the third consultation on SAP and second consultation on CRESHCF following provincial consultation in East New Britain, September 2022. As part of this process, we are hoping that health sector take climate actions or vice versa, and that environmental health officers become climate change and health champions by ensuring that their provincial environmental health plans are climate change inclusive. The NDOH Environmental Health Branch is also advocating among respective provincial health authority to align with National Health Plan (NHP) 2020-2030, particularly on implementation of Environmental Health related key result areas. The overarching goal of NHP 2020-2030 is to ‘prevent ill health, identifying and addressing health risks and emerging diseases and providing accessible and affordable quality healthcare for all”. This calls for prevention of illness and diseases. A cost-effective intervention is investing in addressing environmental health related risks that affect basic health of a population such as access to clean and safe drinking water and safe food, etc. Environmental health as a core branch of Public Health focuses its efforts on assuring safe, clean and healthy environment for better health outcomes. Climate change and environment health is everybody’s business. Source: National Department of Health

The two bills introduced by Prime Minister James Marape to return to Government the position of ‘Chief Secretary’ received overwhelming support in Parliament today with all Members from both sides of the House speaking for and none against it. The Prime Minister and National Executive Council (Amendment) Bill 2022 and the accompanying Public Services (Management)(Amendment) Bill 2022 were successfully passed today (231122) restoring the position, which was previously in place but abolished in 2020. In introducing the bills, PM Marape said the need for the post was to ensure Public Service followed directions of Government and that performance was heightened, consistent with given Government Key Result Areas. PM Marape said: “When we took office in 2019, Government caucus then resolved to abolish the Office of Chief Secretary to allow ministers to function with their departmental heads to deliver to our people and our government’s expectations. Sadly, three years on, we realized that there is lack of leadership or no leadership at the Public Service operational level, their performance has dropped no functional alignments and no day-to-day administrative oversight hence accountability of their performance is lacking or has now dropped. We now, through this bill, are restoring the Office of Chief Secretary and all departmental and agency heads are to – whilst reporting to the Minister – also report administratively to the Chief Secretary so we are progressive in as far as Government Key Result Areas are concerned for our national development aspirations.” In the required debate session that ensured, all speakers on both sides of the House spoke in support of this change. Southern Highlands Governor Hon. William Powi said: “I want to commend the Government that this is the right direction for the future of this country. If you look at the implementation of government, Waigani is a swamp, nothing gets moving. You need office of the Chief Secretary and the CACC process to have an oversight in government coordination and implementation. This is a very important business of national interest. Submissions cannot be rushed through to the NEC; they must first go through the buffer process. Ministers are not supposed to take their submissions directly to NEC. This Office will protect the interest of the nation through the CACC process – there are financial implications, implementation implications, Constitutional implications. These must go through this scrutiny. When it reaches NEC, it is the nation’s interest.” Minister for Public Service, Hon. Joe Sungi said: “Right now, we have 121 national agencies and 130,000 public servants on government payroll. With that mammoth task of managing the Public Service, the Office of Chief Secretary is to not only to look after the central agencies and national departments, but also bring in line the performance of the provincial administrators, as most of the implementation and coordination of policies is at the provincial level. Provincial administrators are caught in between because they do not have a clear reporting system. They only submit the Performance Management Report every March to Department of Provincial Affairs (together with several other reports). But on top of that, in terms of performance tracking, we fall way behind. There must be oversight to hold the provincial administrators accountable at the top level.” Member for Pomio, Hon. Elias Kapavore said: “From the Opposition, we would like to commend the Prime Minister for reintroducing the Office of the Chief Secretary to CACC level. I thank the Minister for Public Service for his input. This Office plays a pivotal role to make sure that the bureaucracy is in order. There will be alignment in reporting and the bureaucracy taking the lead in implementing many of the government policies. The annual reports: many of our departmental heads do not comply with the requirements of the Public Service Management Act. We hope that this becomes one of the important KPIs when assessing their performance. Non-compliance is a disciplinary matter that requires termination.” Minister for Petroleum, Hon. Kerenga Kua said: “I am aware that some governors, ministers, MPs and especially departmental heads are sitting in other positions as directors or members of committees of many other companies, statutory authorities, agencies, commissions, etc. That is not a bad thing but it does affect the productivity of the person in charge, on their primary role as the manager of that department. This situation has to be avoided. I want the Minister Public Service to take note of this while we talking about improving the efficiency of the Public Service. I support this bill.” Member for Ialibu-Pangia, Hon. Peter O’Neill said: “I thank the Prime Minister for bringing this particular bill on the Floor. Having a central agency and a Chief Secretary and CACC for that matter is something that can hold the Public Service to account. Chief Secretary’s position is an important position. I think this decision will stabilize the Public Service machinery so that it can continue to be accountable and deliver to the nation. The Public Service is an implementing machinery. It must be stable and accountable. This is a timely intervention especially when we starting a new term of Parliament. That is why I commend the Prime Minister for having the wisdom to bring this position back.”

Day 2 of the Oceania Sevens Challenge kicked off with the remaining women’s pool games being played in order to sort out seeding for the finals. Vanuatu entered day two knowing they had nothing to lose and everything to gain following some heavy losses the day prior, and their first performance against Tonga reflected this mentality. After conceding some early points, the Vanuatuan’s struck back through Hannah Taiwia, resulting in some deafening cheers from the Vanuatuan bench. Unfortunately, despite their best-efforts Vanuatu would go onto to be defeated by Tonga, as well as Papua New Guinea in their final match in the pool stages. Samoa’s first match of the day was against an underrated Cook Islands side looking to cause some upsets before the finals. The Cook Islands came out firing in the early minutes, but just couldn’t crack Samoa’s formidable defensive line, and eventually Samoa was able to counter-attack through Linda Fiafia who raced down the sideline to give Samoa the lead. Ultimately Samoa prevailed over a gutsy Cook Islands side, as well as winning comfortably against the Solomon Islands to close out their pool matches. Day two didn’t go to plan for the Solomon Islands. They were always going to have trouble coming up against Samoa and Papua New Guinea back-to-back to start the day, and to no one’s surprise they were on the receiving end of some huge scores. The Tongans excelled in their last pool matches, putting on some serious clinics against their opponents. Against Vanuatu Fakanonoa Manumua was incredible, facilitating the girls around the park with amazing composure, allowing livewires such as Florence Hakalo to stun those in attendance with her incredible footwork. Vanuatu were able to put up a fight, however Tonga never looked nervous as they cruised to a win over Vanuatu as well as taking care of the Cook Islands to close out their pool matches. Papua New Guinea breezed through their last matches in the pool stage, scoring points at will against Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. Star player Naomi Kelly was up to her usual standards, demolishing defences with damaging runs. Women's Finals Following the pool stage, each team was seeded according to their results, with two games dictating the final positions, before a thunderstorm washed out the championship final between Samoa and Papua New Guinea. First up were the Solomon Islands taking on Vanuatu. Standout performer Ella Puia opened the Solomon Islands account with an incredible length of the field try. The rest of the match was more of the same from the Solomon Islands, who avoided a last place finished with a win over Vanuatu. Next was an incredible example of free-flowing rugby between Tonga and the Cook Islands. Finding the lead first, Tonga was in the driver’s seat during the first half. However, within the first minute of the second half Tonga conceded a yellow card and try within the same play, leaving the door open for a Cook Islands comeback. Luckily for the Tongans, they were able to hold on long enough to secure a third-place finish, just scraping past the Cook Islands. Unfortunately, the Women’s Sevens Challenge Final between Papua New Guinea and Samoa had to be abandoned due to sever weather. Therefore, in accordance with the Tournament rules, whoever scored the most points over the weekend would be declared the winner. Consequently, Papua New Guinea Womens were declared the winners due to having the most Tournament points during the pools and knock out rounds. The official ranking for the Oceania Rugby Women’s 7s Challenge are as follows: Papua New Guinea Samoa Tonga Cook Islands Solomon Islands Vanuatu As the top ranked team in the Women’s Challenge, Papua New Guinea have qualified to represent Oceania at the 2023 World Rugby Challenger Series. Men’s Finals Day two of the Oceania Sevens Challenge saw the finals of the Men’s competition affected by some turbulent weather washing out the most important games of the day. The Quarter Finals kicked off day two of the Men’s competition, with Niue and Cook Islands taking centre stage first up. Despite plenty of chances, Niue was unable to capitalise on their error-prone opponents and would eventually be unable to compete with the Cook Islands once they managed to hold onto the ball. Next up was a heavyweight bout between Australia A and Papua New Guinea. The Puk Puks were unable to take the lead early, squandering a chance to score from kick off, a mistake which they’d immediately regret as Jordan-Lee Bacon would put the Australians in the lead following a length of the field try. Papua New Guinea would spend the whole game chasing this lead, ultimately falling by three tries to Australia. The third quarter final would see the Solomon Islands dominate a struggling Vanuatuan side. Despite a courageous performance from Johnron Ronneth, Vanuatu could never seem to gain territory consistently, having their plays consistently read by a persistent Solomon Islands defensive unit. Mathew Qwahna of the Solomon Islands was arguably man of the match, scoring an unbelievable try out of nothing in the first half. The last quarter final was no surprise. Tournament heavyweights Tonga had their way with an inexperienced Kiribati side who did their best to prevent a cricket score. After the quarter finals were the semi-finals, which were broken up into two groups. First were the teams in 5th-8th position, followed by those in 1st-4th position. Australia A faced Niue in the first semi-final, which may as well have been a training run for the Australians. They dominated from the first minute to the fourteenth, running up a huge score against a deflated Niue side. Vanuatu and Kiribati were next up, with the Vanuatuan’s easily taking care of the visibly exhausted Kiribatians. Starman Alex Tagavo had a day out, playing at a much higher level than anyone else on the pitch. The third semi-final of the day saw Papua New Guinea play the Cook Islands. The Puk Puks shot themselves in the foot early, conceding an unnecessary yellow card. Despite this, their defence remained as tenacious as ever as they were able scrape a win past a valiant Cook Islands side. A veteran performance from John Ika saw the Tongans march to a convincing win over the Solomon Islands in the fourth semi-final. Ika was able to assist multiple tries for prolific young gun Kyren Taumoefolau, as the Solomon Islands were simply helpless against the might of the Tongan side. Finally, the last games of the Oceania Sevens Challenge were played to dictate the final finishing positions of all eight sides. First up was seventh versus eighth as Niue faced Kiribati. As expected, Niue won comfortably against the minnows, however this doesn’t mean that Kiribati left the field upset. Late in the first half, Tambwereti Arimaere scored a try for Kiribati, their first ever national try which saw everyone in attendance on their feet cheering for the pacific underdogs. A truly historic day for Kiribati, they would still ultimately lose to Niue by some margin, finishing last in the challenege. The final match of the day, Australia A beat Vanuatu in a match which was abandoned halfway due to inclement weather. In accordance with Tournament rules, Australia A was declared the winner due to most tries scored during match leading up to abandonment. The Match between Cook Islands and Solomon Islands was abandoned before commencement. Solomon Islands was declared the winner on this match due to having the most Tournament Points accrued during pool and knockout rounds. The Men’s Championship match was abandoned before the match commencement due to sever weather. Therefore, in accordance with Tournament rules, Tonga Men’s was declared the winner, due to having the most points are the pool and knock out rounds. The official ranking for the 2022 Oceania Rugby Men’s 7s Challenge is as follows: Tonga Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands Cook Islands Australia A Vanuatu Niue Kiribati As the top two ranks teams in the Men’s 7s Challenge, Tonga and Papua New Guinea Men’s have qualified to represent Oceania at the 2023 World Rugby Challenger Series. Source: Oceania Rugby 

A total of 49 wards in the Rabaul District will witness the swearing-in of its ward development committees (WDC) this week. The swearing-in occasion of members of the WDCs kicked off today (Mon) for Rabaul Urban LLG (RULLG) for its 11 wards, Watom LLG will be on Wed for its 6 wards, Balanataman LLG on Thursday for its 19 wards and Kombiu LLG will be on Friday for its 13 wards. This culminates from the rollout of a 21 days ward governance mentoring and WDC setup program initiated by the Districts and LLG Services Division under the ENB Provincial Administration (ENBPA). Commencing on Nov 7, the total of 18 LLGs under the four district administrations of Rabaul, Kokopo, Gazelle and Pomio took lead in reviving this program in the 382 wards to address the weak system of governance displayed at the ward level. Speaking today at the WDC swearing-in program for 77 officials for the 11 wards in Rabaul Urban LLG was Advisor for Districts and LLG Services, Rose August who said the Organic Law stated LLGs must be fully resourced to execute roles at the ward level. "In terms of WDC, this structure has not been existent with only one or two people on the committee but now full committee with representatives covering all strategic result areas," she said. She said there would be no LLGs and districts without the wards where most of the people, resources and economic activities are. She said strengthening ward governance at the ward level will alleviate social and law and order problems and promote economic development. Rabaul Deputy District Administrator for Administration, Babel Umri said the swearing in today is a significant milestone in the history of wards. Mr Umri said following the Organic Law Reform in 1995, bottom up planning still has not been realized. He commended ENBPA for this initiative to drive government policy at the ward level. Rabaul District Magistrate Maristella Painap reminded the newly sworn in officials that they are the connection at the ward level. Attending the occasion was Magistrate Maristella Painap who facilitated the swearing in of the 77 officials and senior officers from the ENBPA, Rabaul district Administration and RULLG.

PNG Air is pleased to advise our customers, corporate travellers, and the general public that our sales office in Tabubil, Western Province has now reopened. With this reopening, customers in Tabubil can now purchase tickets at our new Sales Office. We are located next to Starmart in the heart of the township. Flight bookings can also be made at any PNG Air, Post PNG Sales Office or online via www.pngair.com.pg We look forward to welcoming you onboard soon, as we continue to connect our domestic network across Papua New Guinea.

The Governments of Australia, Papua New Guinea and the People’s Republic of China met on October 18, to endorse the Trilateral Collaboration on Malaria and Health Security Phase 2 – an innovative partnership supporting malaria and elimination efforts of the PNG’s National Malaria Control Program. Senior government officials from the three partner governments met for the first time since the beginning of Phase 2 which started in 2020 as COVID disrupted previous attempts at a joint meeting. Representing the PNG Government, Deputy Secretary for the Department of National Planning and Monitoring’s (DNPM) Policy and Planning Wing, Michael Kumung thanked the Governments of Australia and China for supporting PNG’s efforts to address malaria. “Papua New Guinea is in a hot spot area for malaria and this disease affects many of our people. This project is very important as malaria is a significant concern in this country,” said Mr Kumung. Mr Kumung added that there is much work to be done in malaria elimination after the challenges of COVID-19 on project implementation. The Australian High Commission’s Minister Counsellor, Diane Barclay acknowledged the significance of the three governments collaboration under the second phase of the trilateral partnership. “The Government of Australia is delighted for the opportunity to reconfirm its commitment to this unique partnership, drawing from our respective experiences and expertise to continue to tackle malaria in PNG”, said Ms Barclay. Since 2016, The Trilateral Malaria Project has been supporting the PNG Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL), PNG Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR), UPNG School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), the National Malarial Control Program and West Sepik Provincial Health Authority (WSPHA) to improve the quality of malaria testing, and diagnosis, sentinel surveillance and operational research to inform malaria policy and programming in PNG. The project has enabled an increase in WHO qualified microscopists in PNG where in 2016 there was only one Level 1 microscopist and now there are 147 WHO certified malarial microscopists practising in provincial health facilities and research institutions across the country. Microscopists are important to ensure malaria is diagnosed correctly. The project is contributing to improved national reference laboratory processes and systems, such as establishing a national malaria slide bank and a molecular hub. The molecular hub is a laboratory with that enables scientists and technicians from PNG institutions and their international partners to collaborate and partner together to respond quickly to public health diseases and outbreaks including the recent COVID 19. The hub allowed each institution to capitalise on each other’s’ strengths and leverage resources and expertise, enabling PNG to manage disease outbreaks effectively. In her closing remarks, Shi Ying from China’s National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, congratulated all partners for making positive progress under the Trilateral pilot model and achieving the projects technical goals. Ms Ying said, “We once again express our appreciation and congratulations to our partners for their progress. Including reconfirming the strategic direction of the project and emphasizing the importance of reaching consensus among partners in supporting a broader long term cooperation project.”

Air Niugini wishes to inform students who are sponsored by the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (DHERST) that your tickets will be sent to you via email. To minimize queues at the sales office, we encourage students to communicate through email only. Students are advised to email: students.dherst@airniugini.com.pg with : 1. Your full name, 2. A copy of your valid student Identification Card(ID) 3. Your mobile phone number with country code +675 4. And preferred date of travel (Up to 31 DEC 2022). Your tickets will be processed, and sent back to your email, within 48 hours. Students are also reminded to ensure you present your valid Student ID during boarding. Those without IDs will be denied boarding and tickets forfeited. Due to peak period travel, students are urged to make bookings early to avoid missing out on your desired date of travel. Tickets are valid for two months ONLY with no change permitted once ticketed for uplift. Should students miss their flights, they will be responsible for any rebooking / change fees or lose their tickets if they fail to board (FTB).

A total of 49 wards in the Rabaul District will witness the swearing-in of its ward development committees (WDC) this week. The swearing-in occasion of members of the WDCs kicked off on Monday 23/11/22 for Rabaul Urban LLG (RULLG) for its 11 wards, Watom LLG will be on Wed for its 6 wards, Balanataman LLG on Thursday for its 19 wards and Kombiu LLG will be on Friday for its 13 wards. This culminates from the rollout of a 21 days ward governance mentoring and WDC setup program initiated by the Districts and LLG Services Division under the ENB Provincial Administration (ENBPA). Commencing on Nov 7, the total of 18 LLGs under the four district administrations of Rabaul, Kokopo, Gazelle and Pomio took lead in reviving this program in the 382 wards to address the weak system of governance displayed at the ward level. Speaking today at the WDC swearing-in program for 77 officials for the 11 wards in Rabaul Urban LLG was Advisor for Districts and LLG Services, Rose August who said the Organic Law stated LLGs must be fully resourced to execute roles at the ward level. "In terms of WDC, this structure has not been existent with only one or two people on the committee but now full committee with representatives covering all strategic result areas," she said. She said there would be no LLGs and districts without the wards where most of the people, resources and economic activities are. She said strengthening ward governance at the ward level will alleviate social and law and order problems and promote economic development. Rabaul Deputy District Administrator for Administration, Babel Umri said the swearing in today is a significant milestone in the history of wards. Mr Umri said following the Organic Law Reform in 1995, bottom up planning still has not been realized. He commended ENBPA for this initiative to drive government policy at the ward level. Rabaul District Magistrate Maristella Painap reminded the newly sworn in officials that they are the connection at the ward level. Attending the occasion was Magistrate Maristella Painap who facilitated the swearing in of the 77 officials and senior officers from the ENBPA, Rabaul district Administration and RULLG.